


Just One Date, Volume 3

by digitaleva



Series: Just One Date [3]
Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-07
Updated: 2015-05-22
Packaged: 2018-03-29 10:19:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 22,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3892723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/digitaleva/pseuds/digitaleva
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The final volume of Just One Date. Set one year after the events of Volume 2, and spanning two years. Things between various couples have moved to being serious.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Mornings

Yang sat up suddenly in bed. The room was dark, but she could easily tell that this wasn’t her room. Looking over, she saw a head of blue hair and remembered where she was. Feeling a slight chill, she looked down and almost immediately grabbed the blanket to cover up. She had remembered coming over to watch a few MMA DVDs with Neptune.

After that, it was a whirlwind and she couldn’t exactly remember clearly what had happened. Looking over at the table between the beds, she could see her scroll. She picked it up and checked the time.

3AM. But no messages. Which seemed odd, until she remembered that she had told her team mates that she probably wouldn’t be back. Not wanting to waste a moment, she moved back under the blanket, and cuddled up next to Neptune, wrapping an arm around his waist. As she lay there, she felt content and at peace. No need to worry. Not like the other boys she had dated in the past.

If this was what it felt like to be cared for, she didn’t want it to end. So she gave him a little hug and fell sleep once again.

At about 7, however, her alarm woke her from her peaceful slumber. As she rolled over, she remembered that she was supposed to meet up with Coco before class. As she rushed to get ready, he accidentally woke up her sleeping lover.

“Wazzit….” As he sat up groggy, he rubbed his eyes. As they adjusted to the low light, he saw her rushing around to gather her things before she left.

“You’re up early.”

She looked over. “Yeah. Forgot about a meeting before class. I’ll see you later tonight?”

He nodded as she came over and gave him a brief kiss on the cheek. She then bounded out the door. As it closed, Neptune sat back in his bed. As long as he was up, he may as well get dressed and take a walk to make sure Sun hadn’t managed to freeze with his idea to “sleep in every tree on campus”.

A few floors up, Ruby was waking up to Zwei jumping on her. As she initially wondered how the Corgi had learned to climb, she remembered that she and Weiss had decided to share a bed. So her bed was now storage. Sort of. It was mainly home to their clothes and various piles of paper. If Ruby was up studying, however, she would do it in her bed, and let Weiss sleep. It seemed like an odd arrangement, but it worked for them. She rolled over to sleep some more and saw her girlfriend’s sleeping face.

She marveled at how serene her face was when she slept. As the heiress shifted, her hair fell away from the scar on the left side of her face. Ruby had never bothered to ask about it, as she figured it was a thing from the past that was better left there. She closed her eyes for a moment and was soon fast asleep, curled up against Weiss.

Across the room, Zwei had taken to conquering Blake’s bed, much to the Faunus’ chagrin. Still, she did not mind the dog’s company as much as she had originally. She lifted the blanket a little to allow him to climb under, where he proceeded to head to the back of her knees and curl up.

On the other end of the campus, Oobleck was in the middle of trudging through the kitchen to make some coffee. He stopped as Port held out a mug filled with the steaming black liquid. He graciously accepted the beverage, then sped out of the room after he had consumed a single sip, leaving his mustached cohort in the dust.

Back in the dorms, Nora was still snoring, with her head buried below her pillow, and her rear thrust up into the air, the blankets attempting to fight gravity. Ren was sitting on the floor, meditating, as he had woken a few hours prior. Jaune and Pyrrha, meanwhile were still serenely oblivious to the whole goings on, as they were tucked in tighter than would seem humanly possible.


	2. One Long Day

“Don’t worry! We’ll be back in no time!”

Jaune was highly optimistic about their assignment. And he was reassuring Ruby that they’d be fine, despite their assignment being one that would leave them in the wilderness with a great deal of powerful Grimm. He was almost certain that his team could handle it.

“It’s not the mission, I’m worried about. It is you and Pyrrha being safe.”

The blonde looked over at his girlfriend, and rubbed his head.

“I have…. No idea what you’re talking about. Gotta go!”

He waved and jumped into the airship. As it took off, he looked back at his friends standing on the pad. Feeling slightly bad, he looked over at Pyrrha who shot him a quick smile. Even though they had been together for over a year, he was still in awe of her.

As they reached their travel speed, the doors on the outside of the ship closed, allowing them to go over their mission.

“We’re going to be heading to the outskirts for a patrol mission.” The swordsman said, his face serious. “However, should we encounter Grimm, we are allowed to use deadly force.”

Nora pounded a fist into her open palm. “Let the leg breaking begin!”

As they neared their target, a green light lit up, followed by a timer that began counting down from 10. Once it reached Zero, they would be at their landing zone and would have mere moments to disembark and offload their supplies and equipment.

They all gathered what they could onto their backs in preparation. Everything else would be held in their hands. This, of course, meant that Jaune and Ren would end up carrying a little more, as Pyrrha’s shield couldn’t be removed from her arm while traveling. This was not something that they minded, though.

As the counter neared zero, they could feel the craft descending, bringing them ever closer to their target.

“Everybody be on your guard. There are more Grim here than we have previously encountered.”

Pyrrha’s warning was not without merit. When they had taken on the mission, it was listed as Search and Destroy. Even though she was confident that they could handle it, she didn’t want them taking any unnecessary risks. Immediately upon touchdown, they exited and began their trek to the village.

“So, Ren,” Jaune questioned. “What do we know about this village, anyway?”

“They sent the request for aid roughly 48 hours ago. Large Grim. Very dangerous, apparently. As for the village, it isn’t very large. Sparsely populated. And nobody there has an effective weapon that we know of.”

As they drew nearer to their destination, a young woman approached them, waving her hands as she did.

“You came! You actually came!”

As she uttered this, she made a bee-line for Ren, latching on to the Huntsman at his waist. This caused the rest of his team to stop in their tracks and turn their attention to him. However, Ren was equally confused.

“Maia?”

The girl looked up from where she had buried her face in his chest. As she let go, she stood up. She was around 5’8”, with blonde hair that ran down to around her waist. She had purple eyes, not in a shade that was far different from Ren’s own Magenta eyes. She wore a flowing shirt in a matching shade, with black pants and brown combat boots.

“Yes?”

“I told you before, and I’ll say it again: No.”

“But… But…” Her face contorted into a pout as she stammered. “You don’t have a choice, remember?” She then shifted her face into a smirk, causing Ren to become slightly unnerved.

They resumed their travel, with their new companion hanging around Ren like a fly around rotting flesh. Pyrrha, in a move far from her normally cautious self, asked the burning question.

“What is this all about?”

Before their team mate could answer, however, Maia opened her mouth.

“He’s my fiancé!”

As she finished her interruption, everybody turned their heads to look at her. Pyrrha was slightly taken aback by this news.

“I’m sorry, but you must be mistaken.”

Maia immediately stomped over to the famous fighter, fire burning in her eyes.

“No. I’m not. And he doesn’t get a say in this, you… you…”

Ren’s hand saw that she would not finish that sentence, as he had clasped it firmly over her mouth. He then said one thing.

“Let’s go to the village. We can talk more there.”

His three team mates then nodded and they all resumed their travel. However, Nora’s shoulders were drooped, and she looked as though she had just lost a family member. Upon arrival, they headed for their hotel, where they would be staying for the night. 

While not like the hotels in Vale, it was still nice. The wooden floor of the lobby sounded with each step they took. The walls helped to echo the sound, but gave the building a wonderful acoustic appeal. Of course, this was tainted by one individual using it to amplify her whining.

“But… you… CAN’T!!!”

“Maia, we are heading out very early in the morning. I can’t go out on the town like we used to. Besides, I am working right now. I’m not here on a civil visit.”

Ren’s protest was not unfounded. They wanted to get an early start so that they could get to the location where the last Grim attack was reported to have happened. Of course, this still managed to upset Maia.

“Fine. Whatever. But she,” the blonde woman shot a look in Nora’s direction, “can’t be in the same building as you.”

Ren’s eyes narrowed.

“Excuse me?”

This caused his companions to look up at him.

“You heard me, Lie Ren. That… that… hussie does not stay in the same building as you!”

“We’re partners. And team mates. We need to all be in the same place.”

“I don’t care about that! And you just need to get used to it!”

“No.”

Both Jaune and Pyrrha, who, up to now, were busy making sure Nora didn’t go berserk in the lobby both looked back at Ren as their jaws dropped open. They had never heard him say no to anybody before. However, they had to recover quickly as the situation escalated. Maia was not going to take the refusal sitting down.

“Listen here, Ren,” the disdain in her voice was highly noticeable. “She’s a no good…”

“Stop it.”

“…self-righteous…”

“Maia, quit.”

“…full of herself, egotistical, hyper-active, worthless….”

As the insults continued to fly, Pyrrha took initiative, leading Nora outside, as the shorter woman was visibly deflating at the words that were aimed at her. Jaune headed over to stand beside Ren.

“…WHORE! I will not have her anywhere near you!”

“Get out.”

Ren’s words were quiet, and he was shaking, almost as if he was fighting to keep some inner monster in check. However, it was blatantly obvious where this was going.

“What was that?”

“You heard me. Get. Out.”

The martial artist was still looking down at the floor.

“But…”

As she started to protest, he shot his head up to bring his face into view.

“No, Maia. We. Are. Done. We were through years ago. And you know that full well. Why can’t you get that through your thick skull?”

“Ren, listen…”

“No. YOU listen.”

It was clear from his face, contorted in anger, that he had heard enough and was not going to let her go on in her delusion.

“It was you who decided that I was going to marry you. You decided that I wasn’t allowed to follow my dream. And I know that you got the message that we were through.”

“But I’m looking out for you!”

“No! No you aren’t, Maia! You are the one being a spoiled brat here! You just called my partner, my friend, everything but human!”

Jaune reached out a hand to place it on his team mate’s shoulder.

“Ren…”

“Not now, Jaune. This needs to be said.”

He then returned his attention to Maia.

“And if you ask me, that makes you a terrible individual. One that I wouldn’t even waste a single breath on past this conversation. I want nothing to do with you. Now, Maia,” the contempt was obvious in his voice. “Get out of my sight, and never come near me again.”

He then turned his back and headed over to the counter to check them in. Maia, meanwhile, had turned around, and was looking for where Nora had gone to. Deciding that she was not inside, she headed towards the door.

Outside, Pyrrha was doing her best to calm an understandably pissed off Nora Valkyrie.

“I still wanna break her legs!”

“Nora, I understand that. But it won’t help matters at all.”

No sooner had those words passed her lips, than Maia burs through the doors. As she caught sight of the two women, she narrowed her eyes and shot one last round of vitriol at Nora.

“I hope you’re happy, bitch!”

She then stomped off down the street in a fit.

The self-proclaimed Queen of the Castle would have taken off after her, presumably to break her legs, had it not been for two things. The first was that Pyrrha was holding her back. The second was Jaune walking out onto the veranda and seeing them.

“We’re all checked in,” he said, rubbing his short blonde hair slightly nervously.

“Do you think that she will be back?”

“I… don’t think so, Pyrrha. Ren really ripped into her after you left.”

He then held the door open so his team mates could re-enter the hotel. As they crossed the lobby, they were slightly confused by the hotel staff who were giving them a thumbs-up. They then met up with Ren by the elevator.

“I’ll explain up in the room.”

They entered and headed up to the third floor. During their ascent, Ren looked over at Nora.

“Nora, I…”

“Ren, not right now.”

With those words, an uneasy quiet fell over the group. A quiet that would grip them until they reached their rooms and entered the first of the two adjoining temporary residences.

“So, I guess I have some explaining to do.”

Ren’s face was genuinely worried, and Nora sitting dejectedly on the bed didn’t help any.

“Maia and I. We used to be a couple. Years ago. Yes. We were engaged. My mother called it off when she realized that we would only manage to make each other miserable.”

“Lemme guess: somebody didn’t get that memo?”

“Not exactly, Jaune. She refuses to believe that anybody would ever do something like that to her. You saw how she reacted to me telling her off in the lobby. In any case, she was the only one who was against me being a Hunter. After the message was delivered, I left for one of the academies, and met Nora. We began looking out for each other and have been inseparable ever since.”

He then sat down next to Nora and placed a hand on hers. As she looked over, he could tell for certain that she was upset.

“Come with me? I want to talk to you alone.”

He then stood up and she followed him, rising slowly to her feet. They then walked through the door into the adjoining room and closed it, leaving Jaune and Pyrrha in silence.

“That was… unexpected.”

“Yes, Jaune. It was highly unusual.”

“You should have seen Ren! He totally tore into her!”

“Jaune, I know. You told me. I think that we should move forward from here. Let’s get to bed. We have to leave early in the morning.”

The pair then changed into sleepwear and climbed into one of the two beds in the room, holding each other close.

In the next room, Ren was deep in conversation with Nora.

“I still think I should have broken her legs.”

Ren smiled. It was that attitude that had caused him to become close to the orange-haired woman in the first place. Sure, it meant that she would take some risks that weren’t always necessary, but he wouldn’t change her for the world. She turned to Ren, her eyes searching.

“Why didn’t you mention her before?”

“Nobody asked. And, to be honest, I actually thought that she would have given up by now.”

“She obviously hasn’t.”

“I noticed. I’m sorry.”

Nora smiled slightly and moved to sit down next to her partner. Her rear planted on the bed, she leaned her head towards him, resting it on her shoulder. This caused him to look over at her.

“Are you alright?”

“I don’t know. Ren?”

“Yes?”

“Can I just stay like this?”

The taller male smiled. He hated to see her upset.

“Sure. Just know that we are leaving early in the morning.”

“Mmhmm.”

“So we should consider sleeping.”

The two then leaned back and their backs made contact with the soft mattress. Ren then made a move that took Nora slightly by surprise. He moved his arm to wrap it around her.

“Stay with me?”

Nora didn’t say anything. She simply snuggled in closer, placing one of her arms over his torso. She was asleep within moments. Ren smiled and closed his eyes. Neither one would wake until the next morning.


	3. Just One Night, Part 1

Dawn brought the departure of Team JNPR from the village. As they left, they were pointed in the direction they would need to travel. They left the village behind, the buildings slowly fading away to the distance. They entered the foothills of the neighboring mountains and noticed a small shack. Inside was the remaining information that they would need to handle their target.

However, as they approached, they could tell that it would be pointless to enter. The roof on the structure had collapsed, taking the upper portion of the supporting walls with it. Despite all that, they were able to tell that this was caused by a Grim. And it seemed to be from two very familiar types. Whether both were still roaming, or only one, remained to be seen.

They ended up following a series of tracks to a rough opening in a mine, which appeared to have been abandoned long ago. Noticing a similar set of markings on the timbers at the entrance, they decided to enter, and immediately set about searching for the target Grim. Part way down one of the larger shafts, they encountered their prey: a seemingly oversized Ursa.

Having lived a long time, this one was more heavily armored than the usual ones that they had seen around Beacon. This meant that they were in for a tough fight. Unless they could get the beast to rear up, there was going to be almost no way to kill it. Sizing up the situation, they decided that using fire arms was a bad idea. So they limited themselves to melee combat.

They slowly moved forward, unnoticed until Nora managed to accidentally kick a rock with her foot, sending it skittering across the floor. The sound echoing off the walls, amplified by the lack of noise deadening objects. But it was not the sound that alerted their quarry. Instead, it was the rock, which, by some strange twist of fate, managed to end its travel with a solid thunk against the bony armor on the beast’s head.

Rushed into consciousness, the colossal bear rushed at the quartet. They lept away in varying directions, and then began their assault on the behemoth. Jaune, having had experience fighting them, began to rush it, in the hopes that it would take to its hind legs, a decision that he would soon regret. Instead, the Ursa swatted him aside with one of its front legs. The blonde sailed through the air and slammed into the wall. He fell to the ground, but quickly recovered and got to his feet, just in time to see Nora make a fatal mistake.

In a total deviation from their plan, she had chosen to put Magnhild into its Grenade Launcher mode and fired a single shot. The blast did its job, sending the creature reeling on its hind legs, allowing Jaune and Pyrrha to effectively hit the vital weak spots. But it had the secondary effect of the sound triggering a fault in the ceiling, bringing it crashing down around them, splitting the team in two.

On one side, and capable of an easy exit, were Ren and Nora. On the other, with the quickly disappearing corpse of the Ursa, were Jaune and Pyrrha. Ren shot his partner a glare and she sheepishly rubbed the back of her head, her hand recoiling as a stinging sensation shot across her skull.

She pulled her hand away and brought it in front of her face. On her fingers, and partially staining her gloves, was a red, sticky fluid.

“Woo…”

Nora’s vocalization made Ren turn around as it was not done in a tone of curiosity, as was usual for the woman, but one of dizziness. He made it to her just as she began to stumble. Unsure as to if his voice could even reach the other half of his team, he shouted back to the wall of rubble.

“I’ll be back! Nora’s hurt! I’ll bring help!”

He then picked his partner up and they made their way to the entrance of the mine shaft and the blinding sunlight beyond.

Back in the mine, and on the other side of the barricade, Jaune and Pyrrha were lying on the ground. As smaller pebbles skittered down from the subsiding tremors, they managed to bounce off the rocks and the heads of the two unconscious individuals. After 30 minutes, they began to wake. Jaune was slower to get up than Pyrrha, the latter’s extensive combat experience allowing her to regain her senses slightly faster.

“Jaune?”

“Alright… Who hit me?”

The blonde was shaking his head to try and refocus his eyesight, as well as stem the forming headache. As he stopped, his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he noticed the wall of rock in front of him. Then he remembered what had happened.

“Nora….”

His sigh was not without reason, as she had been the one that caused the situation that they were in.

“Jaune, I know that you want to talk to her, but she’s not here. Neither is Ren.”

The swordsman shakily took to his feet, and stumbled over to the rocks. He looked up towards the ceiling, and noticed that they went all the way up to the top. They were trapped.

“You’re sure they aren’t here?”

Pyrrha nodded, and placed her hand on his shoulder.

“We need to take stock of what we have.”

She removed her hand and went to where their four backpacks had been placed when they had first entered the chamber. In them were four sleeping bags, a tent, several flares, basic medical supplies, and about 3 weeks of survival rations. The red-head lit one of the flares to provide better illumination, showering the room in a bright, white light that momentarily blinded both of them.

As their eyesight adjusted once more, it became abundantly clear that they were definitely trapped. The rubble wall did, indeed, extend all the way up to the top of the chamber. Mixed in with the rock were splintered and broken timbers of varying lengths. They proceeded to retrieve these carefully, as so not to cause further cave-ins.

“Looks like we’re going to be here for a while.”

“Yes, Jaune. It does.” Pyrrha’s voice wavered slightly.

Jaune noticed this, as he had become slightly less dense than he used to be.

“Pyrrha,” he said, moving to where she stood, looking at the wall of rock and wood. “They’re fine. I don’t know how I know it, but I just do.”

“I’m sure you’re right, Jaune. I just worry about them as friends.”

The blonde moved to his girlfriend and pulled her into a hug. A maneuver that she didn’t refuse, but welcomed.

“Come on,” he said, releasing her. “Let’s get things situated. We don’t want to be trying to do any of that while exhausted.”

The two began moving around their new “residence”, making sure that everything was in the right spot.

Back outside, Ren and Nora were limping towards the village. They were spotted outside the village by the local pharmacist, who rushed out to help them back in and to the local doctor.

“Son, you two are lucky. You weren’t mauled by that thing, were you?”

Ren looked at their assistant.

“No. We killed it. But we are going to need to go back there. The other two who were with us are trapped.”

The doctor’s eyes widened as he realized where they had gone.

“Just you wait a minute. There is no way that you’re going back there. Not with this young woman in the state she’s in. And from your breathing, you aren’t fit to fight anything. Call your main office. Have them send another group out.”

“But they’re our team mates!”

The pharmacist smiled. “I know. And don’t you worry. I just don’t want you rushing in recklessly. You’ll both be fit to move by next week. For now, just take it easy and rest.”

Ren reluctantly sat on the bed he was shown to, and the physician removed his shirt, having produced a tray of bandages and ointments. Nora, meanwhile, had her head bandaged and was reclining in the adjacent bed.

“Will she be alright?”

The older man chuckled slightly.

“She’ll be fine. Small cut. A few bumps and bruises. She’ll live. The cut bled like it did because of the lack of tissue. You, on the other hand, will need to take it easy. No high stress ANYTHING for about three days.”

“Can I make the call now, though?”

“To your office? Of course.”

Ren nodded, reached into his pocket, and pulled out his scroll. Immediately he dialed the number for the direct line to Ozpin’s office.

On campus, Ozpin hung up the phone.

“It looks as though we are going to need to send some help. Who do we have that is free?”

Oobleck keyed in the request to the away server. Within moments, it returned two results.

“We have Team CFVY, and Team RWBY. However, I must advise against sending the members of Team CFVY out so soon after their return. I would advise actually sending…”

“Don’t worry. I wasn’t going to. I’ll be letting the members of Team RWBY know that they are deploying first thing in the morning.”


	4. Just One Night, Part 2

Inside the mine, Jaune and Pyrrha had just finished eating a simple meal of the rations, having decided to make them last ‘just in case’. With their situation sized up, they had also joined two of the sleeping bags together as a makeshift mattress, and had erected the tent to provide more of a storage place than anything else. They had also managed to make a small campfire.

“We should rest to conserve energy. I highly doubt that they are coming tonight.”

Jaune looked over at Pyrrha. The way the light lit her fiery red hair captivated him, and he couldn’t help but lose himself. He didn’t even know that he was staring until she stood up and placed a hand on his shoulder, snapping him out of his trance.

“You’re right. But can we just stay and talk for a bit?”

He unknowingly shivered, and reached up to rub some heat back into his arms. Of course, Pyrrha saw this and proceeded to drag their sleeping arrangements closer to the fire. She then came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

“Come on, Jaune. We should bundle up.”

As they stood back up, she headed towards the sleeping bags, with Jaune following close behind.

Before they got in, Pyrrha began to remove her clothes, and getting ready to change, and Jaune immediately snapped around to not look.

“Is everything alright?”

“Uh-huh. Yeah. It…It’s fine. I’m good. Yeah. You?”

The redhead walked over to where her boyfriend was and peeked her head around his own. She then noticed that his face was bright red.

“Jaune?”

“Y…yes?”

She then walked around to stand in front of him and knelt down, her topless form causing him to blush further. He was afraid to admit it, but he had never seen a woman topless, much less nude before. In all the time that they had been sharing a bed, he had never seen her change. So he was slightly nervous.

“Jaune, I wouldn’t be doing this in front of you if I didn’t want you to see.”

“Yeah, but…”

“But?”

“I don’t want to rush into anything.”

The red-haired warrior smiled, and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Jaune, we’ve been together for a year. I’m not going to rush you into anything. I just don’t want to hide from you every time I have to change. I don’t mind you seeing.”

“If you’re sure. I just don’t want to run risks. You know?”

“Completely.”

She then stood up and his gaze followed her. As she reached her full height, she let her arm fall to her side, releasing her breasts from its grip. Despite having been told it was okay for him to see her, Jaune immediately blushed again and his eyes grew wide as he realized that he was going to be in for a long night.

He stood and removed his own tee-shirt, having removed his hoodie and armor while they were setting up camp. He then took off his shoes and socks, and placed them beside his shirt. Feeling equally exposed, he regained control of himself and climbed under the upper two sleeping bags, which would serve as their blankets during their accidental incarceration.

He then removed his pants and placed them with his shoes and shirt. As he rolled over, he was slightly startled by Pyrrha being next to him, until he remembered that they were both in the scenario together, and then regained control of himself. What he didn’t expect was for her to scoot closer to him, her ample bosom pressing up against his chest.

“P-Pyrrha!”

The red-head looked at her slightly stunned boyfriend and smiled.

“It’s fine, Jaune. I… I…”

The seasoned fighter was slightly nervous herself. Despite her having dated other people before she and Jaune started going out, she had never going this far with anybody of the opposite sex. And with what she was thinking about doing, she had to be absolutely sure.

“What’s up?”

“Jaune, I need to know for certain: Do you love me?”

The blonde looked at his girlfriend and smiled. He knew in his heart that she had always been there for him and he had always hoped for somebody who would see him as more than just a goofball with a dream.

“Pyrrha, you know I do. Why would you even question that?”

Hearing this put the redhead at ease and she moved her head in and caught his mouth in a kiss. While they had done this before, it had never felt like this, either.

The longer the kiss lasted, the more aroused they both became. They backed away, realizing all too soon what was going on. However, it was too late. Nature would take its course between them that night.

The resumed their make-out session their hands roaming over each other’s bodies. There seemed to be no place that they would not allow their groping appendages to go, as Jaune managed to make Pyrrha gasp as he brushed a hand across her lower back, and then got a greater reaction as his thigh inadvertently brushed against her crotch, even though it was covered by a thin layer of fabric.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Pyrrha was equally enthralled by the way Jaune’s muscles would tense up as she ran a hand across his abs and was slightly shocked to find that she enjoyed the throaty sound he made when she managed to get her hand into his boxers.

They pulled away again, deciding that the remaining fabric was a hindrance to both of them. And, undergarments discarded, they came back together and continued their activities. They proceeded to grapple under the blanket for a while until the match ended with Pyrrha straddling Jaune. With both of them already panting, she looked into his eyes and waited for approval.

All he had to do was nod, and the red-head slowly lowered herself on his already erect member. As he slid into her, she was slightly confused as to why there was no pain, but she lost her mind all over again as he pushed himself in the rest of the way. She them moved up and down, her breasts rising and falling in rhythm as she increased her pace.

Having had enough of having her do all the work, Jaune twisted his body in such a way as to destabilize her and flip her onto her back. It was there that he proceeded to continue their love-making, thrusting in and out of her, as the pair caught breaths between kisses that they used to slightly deaden their sounds, even though they knew that they were alone.

All the while, they knew the inevitable end was coming, but they didn’t seem to care. They continued, with Jaune’s thrusts causing the red-head to moan louder and louder. With one final, powerful thrust, Pyrrha moaned in ecstasy as she came, her own orgasm coming perfectly in time with Jaune shooting off his own load deep inside of her.

The blonde managed to catch her mouth in another kiss. As he backed away, he also pulled out of her. He then headed to the tent to grab a small container that contained tissues, which he handed to her. He waited until she had cleaned herself up, then climbed back under their makeshift blanket and cuddled up next to her. As they fell asleep, his last memory of the day was the back of her head combined with the smell of her hair.

Back at Beacon, Ozpin was talking to the members of Team RWBY.

“It would seem that you are needed to assist Team JNPR.”

Ruby was slightly confused by this.

“Uh… why? I thought that they could handle their own missions.”

“Yes, Ruby. Normally, this is true. However, these are different circumstances. There was a cave-in. As far as we know, all four members are alive, but we can only confirm with any certainty that Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie made it out alive.”

Yang chimed in next.

“Right. So when do we leave?”

Beacon’s resident Dumbledore took a sip of his coffee.

“Immediately.”

As the four young women headed off to the waiting airship, he added one last bit of information.

“And please. No firearms. We don’t want to mount a double rescue mission.”

He then turned his back and headed back towards the main building.

“Still not reassuring.”

Yang just never got used to how Ozpin could be able to deliver information like that in such a calm manner.

“But he is right. The area they were sent to has many old mines. A gunshot could cause a collapse.”

As Blake said this, a realization came to all of them.

“Nora….”

They all knew how much the orange-haired woman loved using the grenade launcher state of her weapon. So they had a pretty good idea of what might have gone down. Either that, or Jaune and Pyrrha were wandering in the forests around the area and Ren hadn’t seen them exit. Which was highly unlikely. They boarded the airship and headed off to the same town where Ren and Nora were recovering.


	5. Into the Daylight

In the village hotel, Ren and Nora sat on the bed that they had shared several nights ago. They regretted that they hadn’t been out to find their team mates yet, but they both understood the words of the older doctor. It was pointless to try anything without any help. When they had received word from Doctor Oobleck that Ozpin had sent Team RWBY to help them, they were relieved.

“Boooooored….”

Nora Valkyrie flopped backwards on the bed, her turquoise eyes scanning the ceiling, thinking about counting the peaks on the spackle. She wouldn’t get much of a chance to do this, however, as the phone went off in the room. 

Ren answered it to discover that it was the front desk telling them that 4 individuals from Beacon had arrived. He said for them to be allowed to come up, and unlocked the door.

“They’re here, Nora. Be ready. And no using Magnhild today, alright?”

“Fine… When they get up here, are we gonna talk?”

Ren smiled. He wanted to tell her what he really felt, but he couldn’t do it right now. He knew it wasn’t the time or the place. But he would let her know. Eventually.

“Yes, Nora. We have to bring them up to speed on the situation.”

As he opened the door, Ruby was about to knock. Taken slightly by surprise, she face faulted for a moment when she saw that Ren’s left hand was bandaged.

“Are you…”

“I’m fine,” he reassured her. “Minor cuts and scrapes. Everything major has healed.”

He then stepped back, allowing their four friends to enter the room.

“Alrighty! So, let’s compare notes here.”

Yang was ready to get to work.

“Fair enough,” the martial artists said. “You tell us what you know, and we’ll fill in the rest.”

“Your team was dispatched out here to destroy a large Grim that was taking an interest in the town. There was a cave-in,” Blake shot Nora a glare mid-sentence, which caused that hammer-user to shrink a little. “And you two made it out safely, while Jaune and Pyrrha were trapped inside.”

“Yup. That’s all of it!”

Nora was back to normal. She was looking around the room, when she suddenly sat bolt upright and leaned in towards Ruby.

“Woooooah….”

The younger girl was slightly confused by this reaction.

“Can I… help you?”

“Where’d you get that?”

Nora’s statement was seemingly out of the ordinary to Ren until he managed to spot what his partner was talking about. Sure enough, on her hand, was a ring. However, the explanation on that could wait until later.

“Nora, later. She can tell us after we have rescued our leader and team mate.”

“Ookaay,” the orange-haired woman sing-songed as she skipped out of the room, followed by the others.

Back in the mine, Jaune was sitting and thinking. He didn’t know exactly what day it was, as there was no sunlight. However, they had managed to use up a good chunk of their flares starting fires. So he guessed that they had been there for about a week. He was shaken out of his trance when Pyrrha tapped him on the shoulder.

“Huh?”

“Jaune, listen.”

The swordsman put a hand to his ear and heard the definite, but faint, sounds of people coming through the rocks. And he was certain that he recognized four of them.

“Told you they’d come back! And it sounds like they brought Team RWBY with them!”

On the opposite side of the rock wall, Ren managed to just barely make out Jaune’s exclamation. They had been digging for about 10 minutes before Nora had accidentally thrown a rather large rock in Weiss’ direction.

“Hey! They’re alive. Let’s start moving up the rocks!”

Of course, Nora and Ruby jumped up, followed closely by Blake, who managed to get to the top of the pile first.

As she removed the smaller debris, a shocking flickering light came through. However, she knew that glow anywhere. It was the light of a campfire. Now joined by Ruby and Nora, she hollered a warning through the opening she had made.

“Stand back! We’re gonna start up here!”

Jaune and Pyrrha had, by this point, started tearing down their “camp” and getting things packed up.

“Jaune, go up and help them. It will go faster.”

The blonde nodded in agreement and rushed out to start climbing. Once at the top, he began pulling rocks out as well. Once there was enough of an opening for faces to be seen, he looked across to the smiling face of Nora, and a slightly confused Ruby.

“What? Is there something on my face? Do I offend? I know I probably do.”

“Just help us clear these and we’ll talk back at the hotel.”

“Good plan. That is another one I can get behind.”

They continued removing rocks until it was clear enough for the pair to safely climb through. Both Jaune and Pyrrha looked back at the location that had been their home for the past week and then scrambled through the opening. As they walked out into the daylight, the two formerly trapped members were having a hard time seeing. They didn’t understand Ruby’s confusion until they reached the hotel.

“Jaune, you look…”

“Different.”

Yang’s interruption to Ruby’s attempt at tact was par for the course with them.

On his face was a slight beard from the week of not shaving (they had deemed the water more necessary for drinking), and he was wearing his armor directly over his black tee-shirt. Pyrrha, on the other hand, was wearing his hoodie over her usual attire.

“Yeah. We were kinda trapped underground for a week. What’s with the ring?”

“You mean this,” Ruby fidgeted with the circle of metal that adorned her finger.

“It was… a gift… from Weiss.”

“Looks good on you.”

Jaune’s compliment did not go unnoticed by the heiress, who leaned over towards Ruby and whispered, “I told you,” in her ear. This caused the younger of the two to blush slightly. She was still not used to Weiss gifting her things, even though it was their one year anniversary.

Yang then hit on one topic that was bugging her.

“So… What did you two do while you were trapped?”

Both Jaune and Pyrrha looked at each other and grinned.

“Nothing we’re gonna tell you about,” was the response that came in unison from their mouths.

After all, they weren’t about to tell her that they had been intimate with each other. That wasn’t any of her business. And even if it was, there was no way they would be sharing that detail of their relationship willingly. After all, their relationship had started very publicly. They wanted what little details that they could keep private to stay that way.

Blake spoke up next.

“Let’s head back to Beacon. You guys probably want to sleep in your own bed tonight.”

With nods in agreement all around, the two teams packed up and left the sleepy village behind as the airship took off into the sky, only stopping once it had arrived at Beacon’s familiar paved campus.


	6. Highs and Lows

Three months later, and life for the members of Teams RWBY and JNPR had returned to as normal as it would ever be for them. The other members of the group could tell that something had changed about Jaune and Pyrrha, but they weren’t entirely sure. Yang and Nora, on the other hand were united in their belief.

“They totally fucked,” is what they would both say if asked to speculate. So, naturally, nobody asked them.

All of the whole situation in the mine had even been washed over. All except, of course, for one conversation that still needed to happen.

Ren was pacing around Team JNPR’s dorm. He had been for the past few hours. Pyrrha and Nora weren’t there, which left him with Jaune. And he remembered the ballroom scenario with that. So he didn’t think that was a viable option. However, Jaune was the only other guy there. Unless you counted Neptune, who was there because Jaune had invited him over to play some silly card game that Ren couldn’t have cared less about.

“Dude. Chill. You’ll walk a hole in the floor at this rate.”

The martial artist looked over at the source of the comment, causing the blue haired individual to fall silent again.

“What if…”

“Ren,” Jaune interrupted, “she won’t. Trust me on that one.”

“Still.”

“Bro, she’ll say yes. All the same, you want backup?”

Ren looked at the two other individuals. Deciding it couldn’t hurt, he nodded, and they all went off to locate Nora. And find her they did. In the arena. Sparring with Ruby. Shockingly enough, they were matching each other. Ren had actually forgotten about Ruby’s semblance being speed, but he did notice that the two of them used the ammunition discharge in much the same way.

A buzzer signaled the end of the match, and the two combatants, both slightly tired went and sat on the sidelines. Ren approached Nora, goaded on by Jaune and Neptune.

“Wassup, Ren?”

The taller male scratched his head and began to fumble for words.

“You see… Um… Nora… It’s just… I…”

He was jarred back into normal habits when a spent shell from Crescent rose smacked him in the back of the head.

“You wanna go out some time?”

“You mean… like on a date?”

“Yes.”

“Ren, is this a date? Or a date date?”

“Yes.”

The last response leaving Nora more puzzled than informed, she walked over to Jaune.

“What’s this about?”

Jaune held up his hand.

“1) He’s asking you out. 2) It’s a date date.”

The orange-haired woman’s eyes lit up at this. She then ran back over to where her partner stood and jumped into his arms.

“Of course! Why would you be afraid of me turning you down!?”

“I have no idea.”

Nora then released him from her grip and skipped off to find Yang and Pyrrha. She was not going to let this moment pass unnoticed.

Meanwhile, Blake and Sun were discussing things.

“If you never meant to do that, then why did you?”

“I don’t know, alright?”

Blake’s response was short and slightly agitated. People had been asking about her and the monkey Faunus’ relationship for a while, and she still wasn’t sure how to respond. So, when word had gotten out that they were a couple, Blake had turned 15 shades of red and stormed off. This had left Sun to field all the questions. A task that he loved adamantly avoiding whenever possible.

So they were moving towards an argument.

“You know, if I had known it would be like this, I would have never done that!”

“Part of me wishes you hadn’t!”

“Good to know!”

“Same here!”

They then stormed off in opposite directions, only to pass by each other moments later.

“Wrong way.”  
“Wrong way.”

Off at the gym, Yang and Pyrrha had just finished a workout. More accurately, Yang had called an end to it when she noticed her companion didn’t look like she was going to last much longer.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes. I’m fine. Sorry to have worried you.”

The blonde brawler put her hands on her hips and shook her head. There were days when she completely understood the red-head. This was not one of them. She was pulled from her thoughts by Nora bounding over to them, with a huge dopey grin on her face.

“Ren asked me out! Finally! We’re gonna be together together!”

“Congratulations.”

“’grats!”

Yang then looked over at Pyrrha, who was shakily getting to her feet.

“First things first. Let’s get you to your bed.”

She nodded, and Nora joined her in assisting the world-famous athlete to the dorms and into her bed. They then left the room after sending Jaune a message about Pyrrha being under the weather.

As they closed the door, they looked at each other.

“You don’t think…”

“Nah. Couldn’t be. They can’t BOTH be that reckless.”

“True enough. So, let’s go talk in our…” Yang was about to invite Nora in, but a solitary glare from Blake told her otherwise.

“…in the library,” was the hasty correction.

Back at the training arena, Weiss had shown up just as Nora had bounced her way out of the facility. So, of course, Ruby had told her about what happened.

“Well, it’s about time those two did something about their relationship. They’ve been more emotionally constipated than Blake.”

“I wouldn’t call her emotionally constipated.”

Sun’s sudden appearance startled both the girls.

“Sorry ‘bout that. I need to borrow Neptune.”

The male Faunus then grabbed his team mate’s collar and dragged him out of the room. He didn’t release it until they had reached their dorm room. Sun slammed the door and turned around.

“Dude, what is going on? This is not like you.”

Neptune was looking at his friend as the blonde slumped down to the ground.

“I… I don’t know. Blake just… went off at me. I don’t know what I did.”

He then began staring at the floor in silence, leaving the blue-haired teen in a state of confusion.

“Don’t know what to tell you, Sun. I don’t read minds.”

In team RWBY’s dorm, Blake was sulking around. She wasn’t sure why she had snapped. But she knew that she had. The whole thing was unsettling to her. She wanted to be with Sun. But she wasn’t sure how to tell him this. They had been on a few dates, but that was it. Yang was happy with Neptune, and Ruby had Weiss. But why couldn’t she just tell him how she felt unless she was jumping on him and doing it by surprise? That was why she blew up at him.

~Earlier~

“Heya, Blake! You wanna… I dunno… go out tonight?”

The raven-haired Faunus whipped around at the sound of her boyfriend’s voice.

“No.”

The cold response shocked even her. She wanted to go out, she really did. But she had just shot him down.

“You know, that is five times this week! What’s going on?”

“Like you care,” she shot back hastily.

Sun was taken aback at this sudden hostility. All he had done was ask a question. A completely innocent inquiry as to if she was alright.

“You know,” he said, reeling back from the retort. “I wasn’t trying to start a fight. I just want to talk!”

The female Faunus’ eyes narrowed.

“You just ‘want to talk’? I have a hard enough time keeping up with you some days. And NOW you want to talk?”

The blonde was not exactly sure how to handle his oddly angered girlfriend.

“What did I exactly do wrong here?”

“What did you do wrong? Gaaah! You. Are. Impossible!”

Now the male Faunus was thoroughly confused.

“How can you be so… moody all the time? Is it possible to be less brooding and more open about things? Seriously! Come on!”

He was even starting to lose his temper. Which took a lot with the overly laid-back, devil-may-care attitude he usually presented.

“You know, I don’t know what I ever saw in you!”

“Oh really? You must have seen something! You were the one who started this!”

“I never meant to. I don’t know what I was thinking!”

The comeback hit him hard. He had been happy being with Blake. But now, he wasn’t so sure.

“If you never meant to do that, then why did you?”

“I don’t know, alright?”

Blake’s response was short and slightly agitated. People had been asking about her and the monkey Faunus’ relationship for a while, and she still wasn’t sure how to respond. So, when word had gotten out that they were a couple, Blake had turned 15 shades of red and stormed off. This had left Sun to field all the questions. A task that he loved adamantly avoiding whenever possible.

So they were moving towards an argument.

“You know, if I had known it would be like this, I would have never done that!”

“Part of me wishes you hadn’t!”

“Good to know!”

“Same here!”

They then stormed off in opposite directions, only to pass by each other moments later.

“Wrong way.”  
“Wrong way.”

~Present~

She absent-mindedly looked out the window at the moon, the events playing over in her head. As they did, questions flooded into her mind. Why had she even bothered to do what she had done almost a year ago? What had been going through her mind then? Was she just being selfish?

It crossed her mind briefly when they had first started dating that she might just be filling a void in her life by being with him. She had brushed it off immediately then, but it managed to re-surface in that instant. She looked over at her team mate’s beds.

Ruby’s bed was now nothing but storage, as she and Weiss were sharing a bed. The same could have been said of Yang’s, as the latter was there only once or twice a week. And when she was, it was because she was doing homework late. Outside of that, she almost practically lived in Neptune’s room.

The first time they had found out about that, it had come as a shock, until Ruby casually let slip that Yang had been sneaking boys in and out of their house while Taiyang slept to avoid them having to meet their, at times, over-protective father. This had caused the blonde to turn a shade of pink that they had never seen outside of paint and highlighters. After that, they never spoke of it again. They just accepted that it was going to happen.

The female Faunus smirked and stood up from where she had been seated. She then headed towards the door. She knew what she had to do.


	7. Back to Normal

On the other end of the campus, Sun had left Neptune behind in the room. He needed to go for a walk. And by walk, he meant that he would be hanging upside-down from light fixtures using his tail. He was just about to move to the next post when Blake appeared in his landing spot.

She looked up at him, and her stern face softened.

“Hey.”

He looked at her, and she backed up, which allowed him to flip over mid descent to land on his feet. As he stood up he looked at her face.

“Hey. So…”

“You wanted to talk?”

He smiled nervously. He wanted to patch things up with her, as she saw him for him, not some degenerate like a lot of people.

“Yeah. But… about earlier…”

“Yes?”

“I was a…”

“I was being…”

“…a jerk,” he finished before she could.

“...a pain,” she finished moments later.

The two stood under the light for a bit, just looking sheepishly at the ground. It would be a good while before either spoke again.

“You wanna…”

“Go into town? Sounds good.”

She extended her arm to him, and he reached out and latched on to her hand. They then walked away to talk.

Down in the town, Ren and Nora were just leaving a restaurant. They were going to head back to the school, when they almost attempted to walk through Blake and Sun. Both couples were equally shocked to see the other, but the shock subsided as they decided to just spend the night away from the campus. For Ren and Nora, it was to avoid Jaune and Pyrrha, who Ren was adamant Nora and Yang were right on the money by now. For Blake and Sun, it was a chance to be closer.

So, when they checked into a nearby hotel for the night, Sun and Ren paid for separate rooms. Of course, they were right next to each other, so, in the unlikely event of anything happening, they could easily regroup.

They headed towards the stairs to climb those to their rooms, and almost walked right into a female Faunus with waist length white hair, and a sword at her waist. She was wearing a calf-length white coat, which obscured her normal clothing. As they moved around, recovering from the near collision, she bowed and said “I’m so sorry.”

Ren bowed as well, apologizing in kind.

“It was also our fault. I wasn’t watching where I was headed.”

She then turned and headed towards the door, but not before looking back at the group and leaving a message.

“If you are ever in the area of Signal Academy, and just want to talk, feel free to drop by.”

With her cryptic message hanging over their heads, the quartet ascended the stairs to their rooms. Blake and Sun disappeared into one of the rooms, and the door closed, leaving Ren and Nora to enter their room. As they walked in, Nora immediately made a beeline for the bed, her footwear being quickly abandoned by the door. Ren followed slowly after, preferring to remove his shoes slowly.

He looked over as he did, wondering where Nora kept all her energy. In fact, there were days when he wished he had her reserves to tap into. Today, however, they were out on their first real date. And he didn’t want to screw things up by rushing. So he was planning on taking things slowly. How slowly, however, would be up to Nora.

With a flying leap, the orange-haired woman tackled her now boyfriend to the floor, pinning him.

“Nora?”

“Yes, Ren?”

“Could you not do that again?”

The shorter of the two got up and smiled.

“Ookaay!”

She then extended her hand to help her partner off the floor.

The couple spent the remainder of the evening watching old karate films and a few westerns, before finally falling asleep. Nora ended up cuddled up with her head on Ren’s chest, and her arms wrapped around his waist. While it would have bugged anybody else, the martial artist welcomed it. He leaned in and gave her a kiss on her head as he whispered, “Goodnight, Nora.” He then closed his eyes and was asleep within moments.

Across the hall, however, the situation was not as calm and collected.

From the moment they had entered the room, Blake and Sun had hardly let go of each other. As the door closed, Blake’s ribbon was the first thing to fall to the floor, followed by Sun’s bracers. Shoes soon followed as the couple let themselves fall into a fit of heated passion. As they neared the bed, Sun had discovered that the female Faunus made a small moan when he nibbled on her neck, and he was not about to stop that.

The two fell onto the soft mattress, the springy pad absorbing much of the impact, but still causing a slight jar, which the couple recovered from quickly. As he ran his hands down her body, his thumb caught on her shorts, pulling them, and the underlying leggings down her long, slender legs and off of her feet. They were discarded across the room with a single toss, where they hit the wall and fell to the floor in a crumpled heap.

Not to be outdone, Blake managed to undo his pants without even looking, allowing her to easily remove them and toss them carelessly to land almost right next to her own shorts. She then forced him to back off, from chewing on her neck so she could remove her shirt.

As the black and white fabric fell to the floor, she was left in a matching set of black undergarments. Sun followed suit, removing his own shirt, simply by shrugging his shoulders, as he tended to wear it unbuttoned anyway, the white garment collapsing into a puddle near his feet. With both of them clad in only their undergarments, they resumed their frantic and passionate make-out session.

During the following moments, the blonde managed to free her breasts from their confinement, following an utterance of “Stupid chest-trap”. He, of course, managed to not say anything else as Blake slid a hand down into his boxers and ran her fingers lightly across the end of his erection. Seeing the reaction she got, she continued to brush it lightly with her delicate touch, which ended up driving her boyfriend crazy.

Not wanting to lose momentum, Sun then raised his leg to brush against her crotch, causing her to let out a pleasured moan. The two continued playing with each other in this fashion for a while before deciding to discard the remaining pieces of fabric. With them both exposed, he rolled the former White Fang member onto her back, and positioned himself in between her legs.

“Blake, are you sure you wanna go through with this?”

She looked at him, her Amber eyes filled with lust. “I wouldn't have gone this far if I wasn't.”

He then thrust forward, entering her and claiming her first time. She bit her upper lip to stop from screaming out due to the initial pain, which subsided and was replaced by an intoxicating high as waves of pleasure washed over her. She reached out with her hand and pulled his head to meet hers in a kiss.

Eventually, however, she was overcome by the pleasurable sensation and released her grip on his head to put her hands on his back, her nails digging in slightly, leaving red marks as he hit just the right spot. She could feel her own orgasm fast approaching and began begging him to hurry up. It wasn't long before he grunted as he expelled his seed into her as they came in unison.


	8. Keeping Secrets

Pyrrha Nikos wasn’t quite sure what was wrong with her. She just wasn’t feeling well. So she had chalked it up to being a standard illness that she, by virtue of being alive, was susceptible to. She would feel nauseous, head to the rest room, vomit, and be back to her normal self. Nobody thought anything of it until the morning that Ren and Nora awoke to find Jaune holding her hair out of the toilet.

Blake and Yang had been giving Ruby and Weiss plenty of space lately, as they, along with Sun and Neptune had been going into town on the weekends. Of course, the two knew what they were really doing, but they kept their mouths shut. Through all of it, Ruby was STILL writing letters to their uncle and father, keeping them informed of how life was going at Beacon.

Today, of course, she had a return response from her father that actually mentioned her being with Weiss. She quickly glanced it over, and then decided that her other half should hear it as well. She trotted into the room she shared with her girlfriend and sat down on Blake’s bed.

“Weiss! I got a message from dad! He mentioned you in it!”

The heiress turned her head at this. Seeing Ruby on the bed with the letter in her hand, she abandoned her hairbrush to the counter, allowing her long, white hair to flow down to her thighs.

“What’s it say?”

The black-haired girl cleared her throat and began to read the letter out loud.

“Dear Ruby,  
I’m sorry I didn’t write sooner. I was out on a trip and didn’t get back until a couple days ago. I’m so glad you’re happy. Please make good choices in your relationship.  
Love you, kiddo!  
Taiyang

P.S. – I know about the crap your sister pulled in the past.  
P.P.S. – Send me a photo when you get the chance! I want to see you two together!”

She looked up as she lowered the page, her usual goofy grin adorning her face. She then turned her head to the heiress.

“Well, that sounds like he has accepted you!”

Weiss turned a slight pink at this. She hadn’t expected Ruby to tell her father about them being in a relationship. Especially since she hadn’t told her own family about it. She then smiled and leaned in to give the younger girl a peck of the cheek.

“That’s good to know. We should get ready to leave though.”

Ruby looked confused for a moment before she remembered.

“Oh yeah! We have a field exercise with Professor Terra today!”

She then bolted out of bed and into the bathroom to take a shower, neglecting to close the door. Weiss gave in to the temptation to peek around the corner to catch a glimpse of her girlfriend undressing. She didn’t regret it, but she immediately felt guilty for having peeped in on Ruby without her knowledge. So she resumed getting dressed and getting Myrtenaster reloaded, as well as prepping extra clips for Blake and some fire rounds for Ruby. Yang had a veritable stockpile of ammo… somewhere, so she didn’t worry about the blonde too much.

Elsewhere, Ren was talking with Professor Terra.

“I don’t think we’ll be heading out. Pyrrha’s not in peak condition right now.”

“That’s fine. Ren. You are making a call for the good of your team. I can respect that.”

The martial artist bowed to their instructor and turned to leave. Nero shot out one last comment before he did so.

“Just make sure that she and Mr. Arc aren’t… you know.”

The thought made him cringe slightly. He didn’t want to picture anybody having sex. So he continued walking away, albeit slightly more disturbed than he had been upon going to wake up Blake and Sun a couple days earlier. He had known that Faunus could get rambunctious when they decided to do the deed, but he hadn’t been prepared to see one of Sun’s shoes on a ceiling fan, or even as much of the two as he had seen.

Upon his return to their dorms, he waved as Ruby and Weiss walked past. He couldn’t help but smile every time he saw them together. And then he was reminded that he had left Nora alone to watch a pot of soup he was making in their room and hastily opened the door to find… normalcy. Nothing had exploded. In fact, Nora was peacefully stirring the soup, and Jaune was cuddling Pyrrha, her head being cradled in his hand in much the same way someone would hold an infant’s.

He walked over to where Nora was and gave her a gentle hug from behind. She turned her head to give him a kiss as he took the ladle from her hand.

“Ren? Do you think that she might be...”

The marital artist shot his girlfriend a look that said “say it, and you are gonna regret it”, which caused her to shut up. Still, her belief was well founded. He knew for certain that they were having sex on a regular basis. He just wasn’t sure if it was unprotected or not. And if it was, there was a high chance that Pyrrha’s illness was not a garden-variety cold or flu. There was a chance that it was a 9-month-long illness that would end with her and Jaune getting kicked out of Beacon. And that was the last thing that he wanted. He turned to Nora.

“If I take Jaune out with me, can I leave you here with Pyrrha?”

The orange-haired woman saluted.

“You can count on me!”

Ren smiled and gave his girlfriend a kiss.

“Thanks, Nora.”

In the adjoining room, Jaune was holding his lover in his arms. She was paler than normal, and she had dark circles under her eyes. She also was wearing a pair of sweats and a tee-shirt Nora had hijacked from Yang, so they were slightly ill-fitting.

“I love you, you know that?”

Her voice was also weaker than usual. Jaune was on the verge of losing it.

“I know that. And you aren’t going to die. It’s just a cold. You’ll kick this thing in the ass. I know you can!”

The blonde looked up as Ren entered the room. The martial artist looked over at him and motioned for him to follow. Not sure as to why, Jaune gently placed Pyrrha’s head on the pillow and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. He then got up and followed his friend.

Once in the hallway, Ren opened his mouth to speak.

“Jaune, we all know that you and Pyrrha are...”

“I know. I know. And we are being careful. I swear.”

“Alright. I just don’t want to find out that she is…”

“Yeah. Hey. Ren?”

“What is it?”

“I need your help with picking out a gift for Pyrrha.”

The marital artist was slightly taken aback by the request. He knew Jaune was awkward. But he didn’t pretend to know the first thing about getting things for women.

“Uh….”

“I can’t ask Nora. She’d tell Pyrrha.”

Ren smiled and shook his head. Deep down inside, he knew it to be true. Nora and keeping secrets were not two things that happened. He extended his hand.

“What’cha thinking about getting her?”

“Well,” the blonde sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. “It… it’s in town… at this one shop…”

“Which shop?”

Jaune then pulled out his scroll and showed Ren the picture of what he was planning on buying. Ren’s eyes widened. He wasn’t sure any single one of them had that kind of money.

“How are you going to afford that?”

“I don’t exactly brag about it, but we are kinda… rich.”

“You’re joking.”

“Nope. You know that chicken and chicken stock you are using? Those are from my family’s farm. We grow ‘em and everything.”

Ren chuckled slightly. He knew the chicken had to have come from somewhere, but he didn’t want to risk guessing. He patted his friend on the back.

“Whatever you do, Jaune, I wish you the best.”

On the edge of the campus, Nero was waiting with Ruby and Weiss for Blake and Yang. He was normally a patient man, but he had needed to re-do his lesson plan. They were going to return to Mountain Glenn to double check the stability of the area, instead of the original plan of visiting the subterranean city that had sprung up before.

“Ladies, I have changed the plan for reasons of an illness. Ms. Nikos is ill, and her team mates have elected to sit this one out in order to ensure her a speedy recovery. I must commend them for that. Compassion is key to being a Huntsman or Huntress. Never forget it.”

Ruby looked over at Weiss. She was sure that the speech was meant mostly for Yang and Blake, but they listened anyway. Just as the other two members of their team arrived, he finished the introductory part.

“What’d we miss,” Yang inquired, leaning over to her sister.

“Nothing. He was just letting us know that the plans changed because Pyrrha’s sick.”

Yang narrowed her eyes.

“With the nine-month flu?”

Ruby and Weiss both gasped as Yang’s second inquiry had been somewhat louder. This made Nero look over at the blonde, his eyes narrowing slightly behind his half-frame glasses.

“Miss Xiao Long, I do request that you refrain from speculating on the physical status of your friends, as they are not here to confirm or deny your accusations.”

He then returned to his speech.

“In any case, we are doing a secondary survey of Mountain Glenn. I hope you are all prepared to stay for a few days.”

He then turned around and marched off in the direction of the airship, followed closely by Blake and Yang. Weiss held Ruby’s sleeve lightly, as a sign to stay back.

“What is it?”

“Ruby… I… I…ve been thinking. And I wanna send your father a photo of us once we get to Mountain Glenn.”

“Why there? It’s a wasteland.”

“I know. But I want to take it there.”

Ruby nodded in agreement, deciding that it was better not to argue with the heiress. They then jogged off to catch up and board the airship. Little did Ruby know that Weiss was planning a surprise for her.

~Two Nights Earlier~

Weiss was up late. She had waited until Ruby fell asleep then stepped out to the CCT. As she entered, she followed all the protocols and went to a terminal to make a single phone call.

“Hello?”

The male voice on the other end was not at all how Weiss had expected Taiyang Xiao Long to sound. It was actually somewhat warm and welcoming. As she looked at the screen, she could see easily why Ruby and Yang both spoke so highly of their father.

“Hello, sir. My name is…”

“Weiss Schnee. I know. I am well aware of you, thanks to Ruby’s letters. I got home to find six of them on the table. Qrow visits to check my mail if I’m out.”

The heiress blushed. She had been completely unaware that Ruby was telling her father all about her in her letters. The man continued.

“I also know that you two are together. I have a couple questions for you.”

“Yes sir?”

“1, what are your intentions for my daughter,” he held up fingers as he said the items. “And 2, have you two… you know.”

Weiss paled slightly. She was nervous, this being the first time she had spoken actively to Ruby’s father. And here he was giving her the third degree.

“I… I…” She stammered, trying to find the words. When she did, they came out loud and clear.

“I plan to marry your daughter! And no. We have not!”

Taiyang was slightly taken by surprise at the abruptness of the answer after the nervous start. He knew his daughter was head over heels for the heiress, but he had no idea that it was reciprocated. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

“Go ahead.”

Weiss looked at the screen, slightly confused by the answer.

“I’m not sure I understand.”

“Go ahead. Just keep her safe. Can you promise me that?”

Weiss nodded in affirmation. She felt all warm inside, and she didn’t want to let it all come out over the phone.

“Good. Now, Ms. Schnee, please get some sleep. It is rather late. Goodnight, and I look forward to talking to you again.”

He then ended the call, leaving a more than elated Weiss to more or less float back to the room she shared with Ruby. Before climbing into bed, she opened her bottom dresser drawer and pulled out a box. She opened the top briefly and smiled, closed it back up, and cuddled up next to her girlfriend.


	9. Out in the Open

The group consisting of Team RWBY and Nero Terra was just outside of Mountain Glenn. The airship had dropped them off in a different location from where their mission with Doctor Oobleck had. This time, they would be starting in from a ledge slightly below the plateau.

“Alright. Is everybody ready?”

Looking around to double check, Nero noticed that each of them was already in climbing gear. Satisfied that they were all strapped in correctly, they stuck their first pin in to the wall and began the steep ascent. Even though they were on a slight footpath, they were taking no chances, as a fall would mean certain death for any of them.

As they neared the top, Blake moved to the front to see if there was anything for them to be concerned about. She managed to displace a rock on the edge of the paved street, causing a brief panic reaction, until she looked down to see the black pebble skitter away.

“It’s all clear. No signs of any Grimm here.”

The rest of the party then joined her up on the streets. They quickly removed their climbing harnesses and stowed the other gear. Hoisting their bags onto their backs, they began moving into the decimated remains of the doomed suburb.

Yang still remembered the last time that they were here. She didn’t want to lose her sister again, so she stuck fairly close to her. Weiss did the same for other reasons. She wasn’t about to break her promise to Taiyang.

They neared the former city-center, and had to duck behind a wall for a moment, as a pair of Beowolfs walked out and started sniffing around.

“They must be young. I don’t see any armor.”

Nero looked over at Ruby.

“You would be correct. The older Grimm tend to be more heavily armored.”

Despite all their hoping that their whispering hadn’t been noticed, it had carried through the still air and alerted the creatures to their presence. The two reared back and howled, alerting others in the area that there were intruders. All four of them sprang into action before their instructor, and managed to dispatch what they felt were all of the hostile elements in the area. It was when a rather large Creep reared up behind Yang that Nero swung his blade, dividing the beast’s head from its body.

“We are here to survey structural integrity. Don’t forget that.”

He then looked over at Ruby, who remembered all too well her brief visit to the subterranean crypt that existed below the city. She shuddered as the visuals flooded into her head. She could recall everything. Even Oobleck’s description.

~memory~  
“Look around you. What do you see?”

Oobleck was wanting Ruby to make some observations.

“Uh… Empty streets… abandoned buildings…”

But she was not seeing, merely observing.

“I look around,” the green haired Huntsman said, “and I see lives that could have been saved.”  
~end memory~

She also remembered the floor of the subterranean caverns. There was an occasional bone, but, other than that, there was no sign it had ever been inhabited. It was almost as if they had built the massive buildings down there, decided on a new location, and abandoned the project, never even bothering to try and sell it to a single person. And it was left to ruin.

While she stood, transfixed, lost in her memories for a moment, Weiss walked over to Yang. The white haired Fencer pulled out her scroll and put it into the blonde woman’s hands.

“Uh… what?”

“I want you to take a picture.”

“Of… what… exactly?”

Weiss huffed slightly and turned around.

“You’ll know when you see it. Trust me.”

Shrugging her shoulders, Yang opened the device and activated the camera. She had to pan around to find Weiss again, and when she did her jaw dropped open. The heiress was walking towards Ruby, with a small object in her hand.

As the white-haired fencer reached her partner, she tapped her on the shoulder, slightly startling the younger woman.

“GYAH!”

Weiss chuckled a little at this.

“Sorry, Ruby. Um…” she fidgeted with the back of her leg with her opposite foot.

Sensing nervousness from her girlfriend, Ruby held out her hand.

“Wanna take a little walk? The view out onto the wild spaces is incredible.”

Weiss nodded, and smiled softly.

“Sounds good.”

She then looked back at Ruby’s older sister who was trying to rationalize things. She had left her two team mates completely out of the loop on what she was planning. She was the only one, outside of their instructor, who knew about it.

They approached the end of the plateau and looked out towards the mountains. Weiss had to agree, the view was spectacular. It made the perfect backdrop for her plan. During their short walk, she had put the box inside the pouch on her belt. So, with her remaining free hand, she looked over at her girlfriend and grabbed her free hand.

“Weiss, what is this about?”

“Ruby, I… I just…”

The younger of the two was confused by the hesitation and nervousness in her partner’s voice.

“Weiss, if you’re worried about this whole mission, don’t worry. We’ll be fine.”

She then looked out over the vast expanse of forest and grassland that lay beyond the civilized zone. She was just turning around to head back when Weiss rapidly dropped onto one knee and pulled out the small box.

“Weiss?”

“Ruby, I know we started off overly aggressive towards each other. I just… I… can’t picture a day going by without you in it. Please?”

“Weiss, what are you asking?”

The heiress then opened the box, revealing a stunning silver band with rubies inlaid in a black accent.

“What I’m asking is this: Ruby Rose, will you m… m… marry me?”

Ruby’s face lit up in surprise at this. She leaned down to help her girlfriend off the ground. After they were both standing, Ruby reached into a pouch on her own belt and pulled out a similar box.

“Only if you do the same for me.”

She opened the box. In it was a ring that was almost identical to the one Weiss was holding, but with diamonds inlaid in a blue accent. The heiress could feel a blush forming on her cheeks. The shorter woman had not expected Ruby to do this.

All of her carefully laid plans by the wayside, she leaned in towards Ruby just as the sound of a camera shutter pierced the silence. Yang continued to take pictures as the two exchanged their rings and gave each other a kiss.

As much as he loved happy events, Nero knew that they would need to have their base of operations set up before nightfall. So he cleared his throat and made an announcement.

“We need to set up someplace safe. Blake, would you grab your partner and come with me?”

The Faunus tapped her partner on the shoulder, signaling an end to the shutter-bug’s photography spree. The three then went off to set up their camp, actually being able to establish a base camp this time. Once everything was in place and the perimeter had been secured, Yang pulled her scroll out and forwarded a couple of the photos to herself from Weiss’ own. She wasn’t going to forget this.

Back in Team JNPR’s dorm, four scrolls went off simultaneously. As they all reached for their handheld devices, the notification tone stopped. They all opened them to see a single message from Yang, which had the subject “Ice Queen Dethroned”. As they opened it, the images popped up on the screens, showing Ruby and Weiss exchanging rings and smiling.

When Sun appeared at their door, bringing some cold medication that Ren had requested for Pyrrha, he was slightly confused as to why they were all smiling. Then he caught a glimpse of Jaune’s scroll. He handed Ren the medication before he fell over. He had never expected that to happen.

Back in their dorm, Neptune was looking at the message, when a second one showed up, also from Yang. He opened it to see the contents, a simple message that read “Someday, baby”. Smiling, he leaned back and closed his eyes. He would end up napping until his scroll rang. It was Sun, calling to ask if he had seen the message from Yang.

“Yeah, dude. I saw it.”

“’Oh. Okay. I just wasn’t sure.’”

“Listen, Sun. Why don’t we just go out and chill for a bit?”

“’Sounds good, man.’”

They then hung up the phone and he scooted off of his bed and into his shoes.


	10. Relationships

The return of Team RWBY to Beacon after three weeks was met with both happiness and dismay. There were, of course some students who would come up and congratulate the newly engaged couple. Still, there were others who began to shun Ruby and Weiss on the changed status. The whole Team was beginning to think that secrets weren’t a thing on campus any longer.

Through it all, they knew that there was going to be no chance to just sit back and relax. End of semester exams were upon them, and, with the mission having been three weeks, they were down to four days to cram everything into their brains that would be needed. Professor Terra had gracefully agreed to give them a few weeks off from his class (“I’ll not make you show up, but if you want to accompany me on a mission, I won’t turn down the help.”), and there were a fair deal of rumors flying about him as well. The infamous “Beacon Rumor Mill” had never died. It was just something that people had learned to accept as a normal part of life and ignore.

“Come on, princess! Why don’t you leave her and come with a real lover?”

A taller upperclassman was harassing Weiss. He was almost twice her height, with shoulder-length blonde hair, and a small goat-tee. He wore his school uniform almost completely untucked, with only one half of the shirt in the pants.

“What is wrong with you?”

Upon hearing her protesting inquiry, the older male reached out and grabbed on to the heiress’ hair, holding her back. He then smirked as he used it to turn her around.

“Me? I’m just showing you how sub-human you’ve become. You may as well be fucking a filthy, worthless Faunus at this point! Oh! I know! Why don’t I make a call to the headquarters of your daddy’s company and tell him how his little girl is now less than human? Hmm? Why don’t we head to the CTC and do that right now?”

“Let. Me. Go.”

“Ha! No! And you should learn to respect your superiors, worm!”

He then reached out and slapped Weiss hard across the face, releasing her hair as he did so, causing her to fall to the ground. By now a sizeable crowd was forming, and there was going to be no way that the school staff could ignore it. As she went to stand, he slapped her again, sending her back towards the ground. She would never hit it though.

In a flash of rose petals, Ruby and Nero were there, the former catching her fiancé, and the latter holding the overly aggressive student at bay with the business end of his weapon. While the student was taller, he knew that this man was a teacher. All the same, he was still smirking.

“Run that by me again?”

“Heh. You heard me. She’s less than human now. She may as well be with a Faunus. And speaking of, I hear that is your area of expertise.”

Nero’s eyes narrowed, becoming mere slits behind his glasses. He was beginning to lose his temper, but he wasn’t about to take it out on a student. At least, not here.

“You. Me. 30 minutes. Combat hall.”

He then withdrew his weapon and helped Ruby get Weiss to her feet.

“You didn’t need to do that.”

“Yes, Ruby. I did. People like him disgust me. But I’ll teach him in the arena.”

Thirty minutes later, the room that Glynda normally used for her class was packed to standing room only with students. All of whom wished to see this showdown. Nero entered, his sword on his back. He stood at one end of the arena. The student then entered, in his hand was a short night stick. With a flick of his wrist, however, the weapon unfurled into a longer halberd.

As the students looked on, the normal combat instructor held up her riding crop and then swung it down to signal the start of the match.

In a flash, both combatants were at the center, with Nero having a firm grip on the forward section of pole, and his own sword coming around to strike his opponent, sending the obnoxious student flying.

“You… you… asshole! I’ve been victorious in battles! I am incapable of losing!”

He then ran towards to swordsman, only to receive a dust round to the chest from Nero’s weapon, which he had changed over to its gun mode.

Apparently being more brawn than brains, the student rushed the teacher again, with the same result. And he did it a third time, with similarly futile results. The fourth time, however, he came in straight then ducked at the last second, forcing Nero to jump into the air to avoid the polearm.

As the instructor came back down, he returned his weapon to its sword form and swung, sending his opponent’s weapon flying across the room, where it became lodged firmly in the wall. He then held his sword right in line with his arm at his floored opponent.

The lights in the room returned to normal, signaling the end of the match. As he returned his sword to his back, Nero spoke up so that the entire assembly could hear.

“You want to classify life? Do it as a biologist. In a proper scientific manner. But do not ever speak of another person, and that includes the Faunus, in the manner that he did.”

He then helped his humbled opposition off the floor.

“Is that understood?”

The young human lowered his head, and slumped his shoulders.

“Yes, sir.”

“Good.”

As he exited the arena, Glynda put her hand on his shoulder.

“Why did you do that?”

“You know why,” he said as he walked off towards Ruby.

The female student was slightly confused, as she had heard his comment to Professor Goodwich.

“Professor, what did you mean by that?”

He looked over at her as they walked along, with Weiss now holding Ruby’s arm.

“I don’t exactly advertise it, but my wife is a Faunus.”

“How long have you been together?”

“5 years. And I wouldn’t trade her for the world.”

“But don’t you…”

“Get harassed?” The Beacon graduate chuckled as he said those words. “Of course we do. We have just decided that it is far better to shrug it off and not worry about things. Bullies and Harassers come and go. Trust me.”

He stopped walking and turned towards the couple.

“Can I give you some advice?”

“Sure.”

He put one hand on each of their shoulders, and smiled.

“Lean on each other for support during the hard times. Help each other. That way, you two will have very few worries in the world.”

He then turned the opposite direct from where Ruby and Weiss were headed.

“I’ll see you after exams. I’m going out of town for a bit. Have fun studying!”


	11. Just One Gift, Part 1

Jaune and Ren were in town. The two had gone to pick up the item that the blonde had shown the martial artist on his scroll a couple days prior. While on their meanderings, they bumped into a trio of familiar faces.

“Hey! We haven’t seen you three since the day that Roman Torchwick was captured!”

The taller male ran a hand through his silver hair.

“Yeah. Sorry about that. We’ve been… Uh…”

“Busy. Yeah. Very busy.”

The sentence was finished by a shorter woman with bright green hair.

“Yeah. What Emerald said.”

“Mercury, I’ll still pay you to shut up.”

Their companion, who had been quiet up till now put her hands on both of their forearms.

“Both of you can calm down. We have a schedule, remember?”

“Of course.

“Sorry, Cinder.”

The woman turned around to face Jaune and Ren, brushing her ebony hair away from her pale face.

“We might see you around.”

She then motioned for Mercury and Emerald to follow her as she sauntered down the street.

Jaune and Ren both shrugged their shoulders at this and returned to their “mission”.

Back on campus, Nora was busy occupying Pyrrha. But it looked like it was more of the other way around. The red-head could not fathom for the life of her what had gotten into Nora, but she could find neither hide nor hair of Jaune and Ren. And her companion had only one response to any inquiries into their whereabouts.

“They’re doin’ guy stuff.”

So she went to find the only other person Jaune spoke to these days. However, she was surprised to find that there was a sign on Team RWBY’s dorm door that read:

“No entry. Strategy meeting.”

Based on the sounds emanating from the room, however, there was very little strategy, and a whole lot of something else going on.

Inside the room, Ruby had pinned Weiss to the bed, the taller girl having easily won the battle for dominance. Neither one was wearing a shirt, so they would have been very uncomfortable if somebody had walked in. They traded off kisses in their battle of hormones and war of tongues. And they were oblivious to the outside world, thanks to the curtains being drawn, the windows being closed, and the double doors both being shut. Studying was going to come later.

Across campus, Blake and Sun were actually preparing for the combat exam. Not too far away, Yang and Neptune had grown bored with waiting and were having more fun seeing how far they could go with each other in public. After a short bout of who-groped-who, they got up and headed for the room Neptune and Sun shared, neither one backing down. They were going to be fluent in anatomy and biology by the end of the day.

The only group not involved in any side-line activities was team CFVY, who were sitting under the shade of a couple trees, studying their history. That isn’t to say that they weren’t distractable, though. Coco let out an audible sigh as she caught Yang and Neptune walking away from the outdoor arena.

“Hey, Fox. You wanna…”

The male shook his head in denial at her.

“Fine,” she said, returning begrudgingly to her homework.

Their entire team was looking at applying for teaching positions, so they had to stay at Beacon much longer than most groups of students.

Back in town, the male members of Team JNPR were leaving the store Jaune had mentioned, purchase in hand.

“Thanks for going with me, Ren. I… well…”

“I know. You’ve never done this before. Let’s just get back to Beacon before hell breaks loose.”

“Uh… Why would that happen, exactly?”

Ren rubbed the back of his head.

“I kinda left Nora with no instructions on how to occupy Pyrrha.”

They then made haste to reach the airship for Beacon, worried for the amount of damage that might await them back at the dorm. However, they would return to find that nothing had actually gone awry, save for a few people having sworn that they heard a woman scream out in pleasure from one of the dorms. The two friends looked at each other.

“Probably Yang,” was the unison response.

The two of them were dead wrong, however, as it had been Ruby. Weiss had found just the right spot to touch her fiancé, and it was driving the black haired girl crazy.

“Weiss…” she managed to puff out, “Please….”

“Who won, sweetie?”

The scythe wielder bowed her head. She had lost this time.

“You did.”

“Damn straight.”

The heiress stopped her assault, allowing her lover to fall to the bed, where she lay panting, exhausted from the “exercise”. Weiss cuddled up next to her.

“Weiss, I probably smell bad.”

“No. You smell like you. And I like it.”

The white-haired woman got up to open the window a crack, allowing a fresh breeze to blow into the room. She then climbed back in bed and laid her head down, as she and Ruby both fell asleep.

Across the hall, Pyrrha had ended up studying for their exams, as she had also lost some time due to being sick. It had taken her two weeks to get over that flu, and she was not going to be wasting any time. She had just put down her history book, when Nora bounded over.

“Just got the message. Ren’s back. And Jaune’s with him.”

“Finally. Thank you, Nora.”

The red-head got up and headed towards the door, but stopped when it opened and Jaune walked through, followed by Ren. The blonde made a bee-line for their sleeping area, and Ren headed to another table. He looked over at Pyrrha.

“You hungry?”

She rubbed her stomach, hoping to hide the grumbling noise it made. She then smiled and nodded.

“Alright. Pancakes. Coming up.”

“Ren, do you do the cooking all the time at home?”

“Not always. But I figured that I should learn to keep my skills well rounded.”

“Good,” she said, getting up and walking over to him. “Because I have a favor to ask you.”


	12. Just One Gift, Part 2

Two days later, and Jaune had not been able to get near Pyrrha. But he had noticed her and Ren walking off to do… something. He wasn’t sure what they were planning, but he would find out. Rounding a corner, he almost bumped into Oobleck, who was carrying a large stack of books.

“S…sorry Professor.”

Oobleck mumbled something from behind the books.

“Uh… come again?”

The caffeine junky set down the books.

“I said, ‘It’s doctor’. I didn’t get a PHD for nothing, you know.”

“Ah. You… uh… want some help?”

“Why, Mr. Arc. How nice! Of course. Help is always appreciated.”

Jaune spent the remainder of his day helping the green-haired historian organize things in his classroom. And he had to admit, he kind of enjoyed it. He had never taken a real interest in history until one of the books had fallen open, showing a picture of his grandfather on one of the pages.

“I’ll be happy to discuss the events there once we have the rest of these sorted.”

Jaune smiled and grabbed another book, placing it where it belonged on the shelf. After several more hours, the sorting was done, and Oobleck pulled up two chairs, so they could discuss the book’s content in more detail.

“Yes, I had a feeling that your weapon looked familiar. I can only assume that is a relation of yours.”

“He’s my grandfather.”

“You should be very proud. He was one of the few who demanded a cessation of the ban on art.”

“I am. Really.”

“Good! Then what about the events do you wish to know?”

Jaune’s eyes lit up, as a serious expression came on his face.

“Everything.”

The two would spend the next couple of hours discussing the various aspects of the war, which meant that Oobleck was talking, and Jaune was being a sponge for the information. It wasn’t until they both looked at the clock that Jaune had a panic attack.

“Oh my god! I’m late!”

“Late for… what, exactly?”

“I was supposed to meet up with Pyrrha. She’s helping me with other homework.”

“Then go! Go! You mustn’t keep her waiting too long!”

“Of course! And thanks for the lesson!”

“Not a problem! Not a problem at all! Any further questions, don’t hesitate to ask!”

They then zipped out the doors, and headed in opposite directions.

Back at the dorms, Pyrrha was glad Jaune was late. She was preparing for tonight, but she wasn’t sure what was going to happen. So she had asked Ren for help. And she had appreciated it. Just as she left the bathroom, the blonde, bumbling knight came in, and almost fell over.

“Sorry I’m late,” he wheezed out.

“It’s alright, Jaune. What kept you?”

He looked up at her and forgot what he was going to say. She was in a black formal dress that was low cut and left very little to the imagination.

“Jaune?”

He shook he head to regain his senses.

“Lemme go get changed. I’ll tell you while I’m doing it.”

True to his word, he told her all about how he had been helping their instructor with organizing things and then had gotten side tracked by a history lesson.

“That’s alright, Jaune. It’s good that you found something that interests you.”

The blonde walked out, wearing his formal uniform, which he hadn’t worn since the dance almost two years ago. The previous year, his Team had been on an away mission during the events, so they were unable to attend.

Pyrrha extended her hand to him and led him out to the balcony. On it, there was a complete place setting for two people, including a pair of long candles.

“Have a seat, Jaune. I have a surprise for you. And no peeking.”

The blonde obediently sat down and closed his eyes. He reached his hand down to the jacket’s pocket, and couldn’t find what he was looking for. So he began to pat the suit all over, in a panic, until he located the object in question. In his breast pocket. He then calmed down just in time. Pyrrha returned with Ren in tow, the latter suspiciously dressed as a waiter. Nora stepped cautiously behind, carrying an ice bucket with a bottle in it.

“Jaune,” the redhead said sweetly, “you can look now.”

As the blonde opened his eyes, he saw the food that was placed on the table. His first instinct was to look at Ren, who shook his head and pointed at Pyrrha.

“Pyrrha… I… I… I didn’t know you could cook.”

His girlfriend giggled slightly.

“Ren helped. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to make, so I might have gone overboard.”

“It all looks really good.”

“Then help yourself. I made plenty.”

Jaune swallowed a lump that was forming in his throat as he went to speak again.

“But first… Pyrrha…”

“Jaune, let’s eat first. Then we can talk.”

The two then proceeded to eat their meal, discussing their day, and plans for the future. As they finished, Nora returned to take the plates back inside, where she would wash them as her boyfriend dried them.

“Ren, is he gonna…”

“I’ll be honest, Nora, I don’t know. I really don’t know.”

Out on the balcony, Jaune had started some music playing and had moved the table off to one side, giving them room to dance with the slow-waltz that was playing. As it came to an end, he pulled her into a kiss, which she melted into willingly.

She had never dreamed that she would be this happy, but she had always hoped that she could find somebody like the blonde. She didn’t care that he had lied to get into the prestigious academy. Just that he was here with her. And that scared her the most. She knew that once they graduated, they would go their separate ways. She feared that she would lose him.

As she went to sit back down, Jaune released her hands to reach into his suit jacket. He then cleared his throat and uttered her name.

“Pyrrha?”

The red-haired beauty turned around just in time to see him go down on one knee and produce a box from his jacket.

“Jaune? What is this about?”

“Pyrrha,” he began, “I know I was… a jerk… scratch that. I was an ass when we first met. But you saw past that. When you found out how I got into the school, you looked past it. And I… I don’t want you to have to look past anything again. You saw me for me, just as I saw you for you. But in different ways at first. And I don’t want to give this up… and I’m rambling.”

“Jaune, you’re fine.”

He breathed a sigh of relief and continued.

“In short, what I’m trying to ask is… Pyrrha Nikos, will you be my team mate for life?”

“Are you asking me to marry you?”

The blonde shook his head in affirmation, and was suddenly on his back.

“Of course! Jaune, you didn’t need to be so nervous.”

“But, Pyrrha, I’m always nervous around you.”

As they stood up, Jaune opened up the box to show a gold band with emeralds and citrines set around a single, large diamond. Pyrrha’s jaw dropped. She had never seen one like this in her life.

“Jaune… Where did… how did… Never mind that. It is beautiful.”

“Not as much as you.”

She turned a new shade of red as he slid the ring on her finger.

Back inside, Nora was clutching Ren’s sleeve, a smile on her face. She had hoped that her friends would be happy together, and now they were going to be “together together” for life. She looked up at her boyfriend who smiled back at her.

“Just be patient, Nora. Just be patient.”

“Not gonna rush ‘ya. I’m just happy we’re together here.”

“Me too, Nora. Me too.”

The martial artist pulled his hyper-active girlfriend in and gave her a kiss.


	13. End of Semester

As the long solitary tone sounded from the PA system, the weary leagues of students filed out of the classrooms and lecture halls into the common areas of Beacon Academy. Most were looking forward to the end of semester break. Others were just going to stay and study for the next semester. In the minority, there were those few students who were going to hang around and ignore the world.

Ruby and Jaune were among the lucky few to be trudging out of Port’s exam.

“How do you think you did, Jaune?”

The blonde looked over at his friend and shook his head.

“Probably terrible. I just don’t know what to do anymore.”

Ruby looked at the swordsman, a puzzled expression on her face. She couldn’t understand how he didn’t know what to do. He was engaged to Pyrrha, and it had seemed like he couldn’t be happier. So his deflated appearance was highly unusual. Luckily, she and Weiss had made plans with Pyrrha as a surprise for Jaune at the end of the semester. She reached up and patted Jaune on the back, causing him to momentarily lose his balance. As he recovered, he looked over at the younger girl, who was wearing her signature grin.

“Come on, Jaune. Let’s go.”

“Uh… go where now?”

Down at the docks, Violetto Volpes was waiting somewhat impatiently. The Faunus paced back and forth, stopping briefly to move his watch up to bring the device into his line of vision. The last time he did this, a ship was pulling up alongside the dock.

“He’s late.”

“But he made it.”

He looked over at the source of the second voice. It had emanated from a female Faunus with white, waist-length hair, and blue eyes. She was sitting idly on a nearby bench, her long white overcoat buttoned up, hiding whatever she was wearing underneath.

“Nice to see you again, Lilly.”

“You too.”

She stood up and almost glided across the dock. As she neared, she reached out a hand and plucked Violetto’s hat from its perch atop his head. He abruptly snatched it back.

“You know you don’t need that,” she chided.

“I know. I just don’t like drawing attention to myself,” he responded, returning the headgear to its original position.

“You two are still going on about that?”

The two Faunus looked up towards the source of the sound.

“Look out below!”

Nero’s holler was all the warning they would get. He proceeded to jump down from the open hatch on the side of the ship to the dock, not waiting for the exit ramp to be put into place. As he stood up, he asked one question.

“Why are both of you here?”

Lilly sighed and put her head in her hand, as Violetto said one word.

“Russel.”

Nero’s shoulders slacked.

“What did he do this time?”

The male Faunus motioned towards the bench Lilly had occupied earlier.

“You’re going to want to sit. He made a really big mess this time.”

The trio sat down as Violetto began his explanation. After 25 minutes, he finally concluded.

“Long story short, he has asked us to bail him out. Any questions?”

Nero put his head in his hands. He knew that the man had always been a little rambunctious, but willingly leading a Grim into town? Something didn’t add up. He stood and turned towards the stairs leading up into the city.

“Nero, what are you thinking?”

“More importantly, what are you going to do?”

While Violetto’s question was understandable, Lilly’s inquiry came from having known the human for decades. She knew that he could be downright unpredictable and hot headed. They didn’t want to have two friends in police custody. As Nero started walking, his two companions rose as well.

Back on Beacon’s campus, Weiss and Pyrrha were waiting by a tree. The two were sitting and talking about their lives and upbringing, the issues fame had brought to them, and various other things. The conversation ended as they noticed Ruby and Jaune coming into view.

Pyrrha raised her arm and waved to flag their fiancés over. They all sat together in the cool, refreshing shade that the tree provided.

“I wish we could always have days like this.”

The heiress looked over at Ruby, and smiled softly.

“So do I, Ruby. So do I.”

The black haired woman moved to lean up against the tree, removing her hood in the process. She patted the ground for Weiss to come and sit next to her, but the ice queen instead leaned her head into her lover’s lap, lifting it momentarily to steal a quick kiss.

Jaune and Pyrrha used this moment to remove themselves from the scene, allowing their friends to relax as a cool breeze drifted through. They had other things to take care of.

Jaune’s parents definitely wanted to meet Pyrrha in person, but, with the young couple not being able to leave the campus, many trips to the CCT were in order. They entered and Jaune told the holographic receptionist what they were going to do.

Down at the Vale Police Department, three teachers were waiting while their friend was “processed out” to allow him to leave. When he finally appeared, he scratched his head, rustling the already unruly mop of rust-colored hair on his head into some semblance of a controlled look.

“Yo!”

Nero shot him a glare.

“Do you know what we had to do to get you out?”

“Chillax, man! It’s all cool!”

Violetto turned to his former partner.

“You will be going to Beacon as a teacher’s aide.”

Russel struck a slightly shocked pose, which he quickly recovered from.

“Nice. Any hotties there?”

His three companions narrowed their eyes. Russel face-faulted before apologizing, albeit slightly half-heartedly.

“Alright. Alright. No need to go all dark on me.”

He walked across to the clerk to claim his shoes, coat and weapon, then made his way to Violetto.

“So, partner. Who and what do I teach?”

The male Faunus removed his partner’s hand from its perch on his shoulder. He then motioned towards Nero.

“I work at Signal. You are working with him.”

Smirking slightly, the rust-haired man walked towards Nero, and started to move his hand towards the gunblade user’s shoulder.

“Do it, and I let them keep you here.”

Russel lowered his hand and put it into his pocket.

“Geeze. No need to be so grumpy about it.”


	14. Back to Basics

Two days had passed. Nero had returned to Beacon, Russel in tow. They were now in the forest, watching Team RWBY and Team JNPR train. During all of this the taller man was taking notes.

“Please tell me those will be related to what’s going on here,” Nero begged, looking over at the scribbles.

“Uh-huh. Yeah. You got it.”

Not feeling reassured, the swordsman returned his attention to the practice course that they had set up. After 10 minutes, he blew on a whistle he had produced from his vest pocket, signaling the end of the exercise. The 8 students headed over to their instructors’ location.

“You know the semester is over, right?”

“I know, Ren. Just figured we’d get in some extra practice, that’s all.”

With that issue out of the way, the group headed back to the campus. While on the way, Nero confiscated Russel’s notebook. Upon opening it, he momentarily drooped his shoulders. There was nothing in there related to the events that had just taken place, unless the red-head’s commentary and musings on Yang’s chest. 

He looked over at his team mate, only to find the former grinning from ear to ear and drooling as he watched the blonde woman walk across the pavement.

“Do I need to remind you that they are our students?”

The rusty-haired huntsman ignored the comment and continued ogling. This continued, of course, until Nero tripped him. He whipped around, anger filling his eyes.

“What the hell was that for?”

Nero glared at him.

“They. Are. Our. Students. And are, therefore, off limits. Got it?”

Russel pouted for a moment before spitting out a response.  
“Fine. Take away my one hobby, why don’cha?”

Nero shook his head and offered his friend a hand. As they returned to standing, they noticed that the 8 students were watching the whole thing.

“You guys alright?” Yang was somewhat concerned about the goings on.

“Yeah. We’re fine. Just needed to remind Russel of a couple things. That’s all.”

“Oh.”

With the whole incident brushed under the rug, they moved forward and resumed their travel. Upon arrival back at the campus, they all went their separate ways, with the two engaged couples heading off on a double date, as Ren and Nora went to get their room ready for their night of watching old movies and relaxing, an activity that Yang, Sun, Blake and Neptune would be joining them for. It was going to be a long time before they would all be in the same room again, as Ruby and Weiss were going off to the north for a ski-trip, and Jaune and Pyrrha were finally able to leave the campus and visit his family.

That night, the afore mentioned group met in team JNPR’s dorm to begin their marathon. The films began as kung-fu films, which Sun had just as much interest in as Ren and Nora, but turned into horror, which had Yang, Blake, and Neptune held captive. Of course, the horror films were to drive Nora closer to Ren, but the two didn’t know that.

As the sun crept over the horizon and began filling the room with light, the scene was slightly comical. Ren and Nora were both asleep under a table, cuddled together tighter than two pieces of duct tape. Blake and Sun were cuddled together in a corner, the former purring slightly every few minutes. Yang and Neptune, on the other hand, were draped over the solitary couch, snoring their heads off. How any of the others had managed to get any sleep was beyond them.

Off campus, Ruby and Weiss were just waking up. They had slept the night away in each other’s arms, neither one wanting to leave the other. As the light snuck its way into their room, its warm embrace began heating the wooden floor, causing small pops and creaks as the lumber expanded and adjusted to the light source. The noise was just enough to start the younger of the two women on the path to being awake.

As Ruby slowly opened her eyes, she was met by the still sleeping façade of her fiancé. She smiled as Weiss, whose face normally was set in a serious expression, was twitching slightly as she fought to stay asleep. Slowly, the white-haired woman opened her eyes, her expression softening as she saw the black-haired scythe wielder smiling back at her.

“Good morning, Weiss.”

“’morning, Ruby. How long have you been up?”

“Not long,” the younger of the two smiled at her. “I was just watching you sleep.”

“Why?”

“Um….” Ruby had to think for a bit.

“Because it’s cute!”

“What? No I’m not!”

Ruby smiled and leaned forward to silence her fiancé’s protests with a kiss.

“Well, that’s my opinion,” she said as she backed away.

At the opposite end of the world, Jaune and Pyrrha had been up for a few hours, both of them waking to help out his family with an early morning disturbance on their farm. A couple of small Beowolfs had decided to make their home too close to the expansive ranch, and they had headed out to eliminate the threat.

With the creatures eliminated, they headed back towards the house, only to be greeted by Jaune’s father, who was willing to offer them a ride back across the property on the back a 4x4.

“I see you have been learning at that school of yours!”

“Dad!”

“C’mon, Jaune. You know I’m messin’ with ya!”

The blonde smiled.

“I know. We just didn’t want you to worry too much.”

“Jaune, when you two ran off across the yard with your weapons and whatnot, I worried. I’m your father. Your mother and I will always worry about you two. All that aside, we’re back!”

The couple slid off of the back of the vehicle, with Jaune helping Pyrrha down. His father had already dismounted and headed up to talk to his wife, who was smiling as she saw the two exchange a quick kiss. Recovering quickly as they approached, she opened the door, allowing them to pass before sneaking a kiss with her husband.


	15. One Last Date, Part 1

With their vacations drawing to a close, students were returning to Beacon Academy. In the midst of all of this, Team RWBY and Team JNPR were looking at their last year at Beacon. When this year ended, they would go their separate ways. None of them wanted this to happen at all.

“So… Ruby. What are your plans for after graduation?”

Blake was looking at their leader curiously. She and Weiss had been unusually quiet since their return. And, while she was used to some quiet, the couple’s silence was almost unnatural.

“I really don’t know. I just thought I’d travel for a bit. See the world, you know?”

The female Faunus smiled and nodded. She was just looking forward to being able to relax for a little bit, despite her knowledge that, as a Huntress, she would have to accept deployment orders from people. She had figured on just staying in a residence dormitory on campus and furthering her skills past what was normally taught.

Yang had already decided to move to Mistral with Neptune. Ren and Nora were tight lipped about their plans, which was unusual for the bouncier woman. Sun was just going to do the same as Ruby, except he was going to make Beacon his home base now. He actually considered becoming an instructor. Jaune and Pyrrha had wandered away from the group and were, as a result, immune from the questioning.

“Pyrrha, I know we’re graduating and all this year…”

“Jaune, I know. Why don’t we stay local?”

“Sta..wha?”

“Jaune, we can stay at the school after graduation, you know that, right?”

“Oh,” the blonde’s eyes widened slightly.

“So we can do that and not worry about where we will live at. Plus, we could tutor new students.”

The blonde looked at his fiancé and smiled. Every day, he was reminded of why he wouldn’t leave her for the world. She had taken a chance on him and he wasn’t about to forget it. In fact, it was part of the reason he had started to fall for her in the first place. He had decided to pursue his chances with Weiss as so not to drag her down, however. When he finally got the message that Weiss wanted nothing to do with him after the dance in their second semester, he had firmly decided to be with Pyrrha and nobody else.

They had been walking around the edge of the campus and were walking back when…

“Mr. Arc! Ms. Nikos! Feeling rested?”

They turned around to see Russel Scarlet, Nero’s teaching assistant and team mate, rushing towards them.

“Uh… what… uh… how can we help you?”

The taller male ducked behind Jaune before the pair could turn around.

“I swear, I did nothing! It was not me!”

Before they could be confused by his shouting, they saw Coco and Velvet storming towards them.

“Where is he?”

Jaune was about to turn around when he noticed that Russel was making a dust cloud and rushing away from the two women.

Pyrrha put a hand on the female Faunus’ shoulder.

“What happened?”

Coco beat her former team mate to the punch.

“He decided to hit on us.”

“Exactly. Up to and including grabbing our…” Velvet put a hand out to cover her backside.

Jaune was not thrilled with this. Just as he was about to storm off, Russel came flying back towards them, a volley of gunfire preceding him. As the rust-haired huntsman landed, he opened one eye slightly and smiled nervously.

“Heh heh heh…. Hello again, ladies.”

Across the campus, the main group was startled to hear a series of explosions until they saw Fox and Yatsuhashi rushing off in the direction that they had seen Coco and Velvet head earlier. Ruby looked at Weiss.

“Wanna go and see?”

“No way. I’m not going anywhere near that.”

“I’m going. Neptune! You coming with?”

The blue haired huntsman looked at his girlfriend.

“You know it!”

The pair then headed off in the direction of the explosions, leaving their companions slightly confused but satisfied that the resident nymphomaniacs weren’t around. They had not had a whole lot of quiet over the vacation with them hanging around. Almost every last moment of their waking hours had seemingly been spent having sex, and the rest of Team JNPR and Team RWBY were tired of them hanging all over each other.

As they returned to their dormitories for the start of their last year, everything was going smoothly. Ruby and Weiss almost immediately climbed into their bed to get in some last minute sleep. They had been on a red-eye flight, and were very much exhausted. This gave Blake and Sun a chance to just talk, which they needed.

“So…. Staying on campus after graduation?”

“Yes, I think I will.”

The blonde Faunus looked at his girlfriend.

“You… uh… mind if I join you?”

Blake shook her head. She wanted him to be there with her, more than she wanted to graduate.

“Sure. We’ll work from here. Sun?”

“Yeah?”

“You wanted to be a teacher, right?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Why not teach here?”

“You mean like here here? At Beacon?”

“Yeah. That way, you don’t need to worry about where you are going to be at, you know?”

Sun put his hand behind his head and looked over at her. He then casually reached out a hand and pulled her close.

“Sounds good.”

They then kept walking as Blake leaned her head in to rest it on Sun’s arm. They would keep on walking until they got back to Sun’s dorm room, as he and his team had transferred to Beacon. They entered and cuddled up next to each other on the couch.

Back at the scene of the carnage, Jaune had drawn his weapon. Russel had made a pass at Pyrrha’s chest. Even the star athlete had her weapon drawn. There was going to be blood, had Glynda not shown up and stopped the assault of students, graduates, and weapons on the perverse instructor.

“Russel Scarlet. If you would follow me, that would be appreciated. As for the rest of you, I know you have somewhere else to be and other, far more constructive things, to do. So go do them.”

The assault party disbanded, with Jaune and Pyrrha continuing their walk, Yang and Neptune tracking down an empty closet for purposes that they knew all too well, and Coco and Velvet walking off to the library, followed closely by Fox and Yatsuhashi.

This left the blonde female and the rusty-haired male alone to talk.

“You can’t continue to act like this on campus. You know that, right?”

“I know. But it isn’t fun just following the rules all the time, ya know?”

“Russel, I don’t want to tell Professor Terra to drop you back off in custody, but I will not hesitate if this behavior continues.”

“No need to tell me, Glynda. They’re here to collect him.”

Russel and Glynda turned around to see Nero walking forward with two members of Vale’s finest. Russel shrank back, putting his hands in his pockets, his shoulders drooping.

“Rusty, they aren’t here to arrest you. Just take you outside of Vale. You are free to go. You did the time they set.”

“Oh.”

“Just, do me one favor,” Nero said, his eyes narrowing in slight annoyance.

“Anything.”

“Don’t lead things into town AND stay away from the students. Seriously.”

“Sure thing man.”

“I swear, if I see you back here before a class reunion for us, there will be hell to pay.”

With his warning issued, the swordsman walked off to meet up with Oobleck, as they were supposed to have breakfast together.

Glynda sighed and walked off to Ozpin’s office, ready to deliver the report that their guest was gone.

A few hours later, and Jaune was in a heated match with Ren in the sparring arena. Both of them in front of the new freshmen. Ren went in for a shot, and the blonde ducked under it, bringing his shield up and into his opponent’s legs, destabilizing him enough to send him tumbling across the floor and into a ring-out.

As the lights returned to their normal levels, Glynda walked forward.

“As you can all see, Mr. Arc has, in fact, won the match, as Mr. Ren is out of the arena.”

She walked over to Jaune.

“Well done, Mr. Arc. I see you have been practicing.”

Jaune, however, was more concerned about Ren. He walked over and extended his hand to help his team mate up.

“You alright?”

“Jaune, that was fun. Let’s do it again some time.”

“Sure thing, Ren. We’ll do it again. For now though, let’s get you off the floor.”

Ren reached out his hand in agreement, and he and Jaune then walked out of the room just as the tone signaling the end of the class sounded.

Back in the dorms, Pyrrha, Weiss, and Nora were talking about the upcoming weekend.

“Any plans this weekend?”

“Ren and I are gonna go see a new movie.”

Nora was still bouncing on the beds. Despite the passage of time, she was still hyperactive. Pyrrha looked over at Weiss.

“Why do you ask?”

“Well, it’s kinda odd, but…”

She went on to explain that it was coming up on Ruby’s birthday, and she wanted to throw her a surprise party. This wouldn’t be possible without their help, as Ruby was almost inseparable from her fiancé. So they would have to find a way to discuss everything with the heiress without the younger woman knowing it. All they knew was that Ruby would not know what hit her.


	16. One Last Date, Part 2 (Volume 3 Finale)

Ruby was slightly unnerved when Weiss started getting a slew of emails from Pyrrha and Nora. She wasn’t sure what was up, and she couldn’t sneak into the heiress’ scroll to find out either, as Weiss had smartly put a passcode in place to lock it.

Pyrrha, on the other hand, was more confused by the sheer number of emails she was sending as opposed to communicating in person. She had finally been assigned the job of distracting the scythe-wielder on Saturday, when the party would be taking place. She was actually surprised when Ozpin approved the use of the ballroom for their impromptu event.

Yang was kept out of the loop, and with good reason. She would be one of the first to tell Ruby, especially after the incident with Weiss a couple years ago. Yang wouldn’t want to risk her sister’s wrath again, so it was up to Pyrrha to keep the secret from everybody. 

Nora and Ren were busy preparing for other things, which meant that the orange-haired woman had completely forgotten the conversation with Weiss.

“Nora, just don’t forget about the other thing going on this weekend. We are seeing the movie on Sunday.”

“I know. You’ll make sure we get to places in time. Love ya!”

Ren simply shook his head and smiled. Her unbridled enthusiasm for everything is what made him love her in the first place. With a perfectly timed reach of his arm, his finger shot out and he poked his girlfriend in the nose, with an utterance of “Boop”.

Jaune was busy studying with Blake, as his last class was Oobleck’s Advanced History class, which he had signed up for thinking that he was going to ace it. He had been dead wrong as to what he knew and didn’t know.

As the week dragged on, Ruby shrugged off the fact that Weiss was sort of ignoring inquiries as to her activities. In fact, she was talking to Pyrrha more and more as the days went past, which she didn’t mind. She was learning things about the rest of Remnant she had never known, and she liked it. It was during one of their conversations that it turned to weapons and what made them choose their various components.

“Well, Milo and Akuo were made to complement each other.”

“I don’t see how a shield complements a gun or a spear.”

“True, when I am using Milo as a gun, I don’t use Akuo. However, when I have thrown my weapon, I need a good way to defend myself while retrieving it, and that is where Akuo comes into play.”

As the realization dawned over the younger woman’s face, she lit up with glee. 

“Kind of like how I use the recoil and my semblance to get away quickly!”

The red-haired fighter smiled.

“Very similar, yes.”

They continued walking along on the campus, Pyrrha taking great care to not lead Ruby to the ballroom.

Inside that very ballroom, Weiss was busy directing Sun and Neptune as to the locations of some things. Blake was carefully maneuvering between the two, ensuring that there was easy access to everything as well.

“Weiss, I don’t think that you need to worry so much. Whatever you do, she’ll love it.”

“I know that, but I want it to be perfect.”

“Just don’t worry yourself sick, alright?”

“Fair enough. Have you seen Yang and Jaune?”

“They should be in town picking it up right about now.”

Yang had been asked to help out as well, so the blonde brawler was headed into town with Jaune to pick up the cake. This meant that she couldn’t use her motorcycle, but they would have to take an airship for safest transport.

“I don’t know why you guys didn’t tell me sooner!”

“You would have been forced to tell Ruby what was going on at scythe-point.”

“Oh. Good point.”

They rounded the corner to see their target: the bakery. They entered and handed over the slip of paper that Blake had given them.  
“I see! Alright! I was just about to ship it to Beacon myself. I have a back entrance. You can ride along.”

“Sweet deal. When do we leave?”

The baker looked over at Yang and popped on a pair of aviator sunglasses.

“Right now.”

Back on campus, Ruby was noticing that nobody she knew was out and about, so she and Pyrrha stopped by the dining hall to get something to eat. It was over their food that they had the conversation that had been bugging the scythe-wielder all week.

“Is Weiss mad at me?”

Pyrrha choked momentarily. She hadn’t expected that question to come out of the blue, and was completely unprepared as a result.

“No, Ruby. She’s not. She’s just busy with a few things. You’ll see.”

“Yeah, I know she’s been busy. But she hasn’t spoken to me much in the last week.”

“Ruby,” the athlete said, putting a hand on her friend’s shoulder, “She has her reasons. And I know you’ll forgive her for this. You just have to trust me.”

She then felt her scroll buzzing. Looking down, she noticed that there was a new message.

“Please, excuse me for a moment.”

She stood and turned around to read the text on the screen.

[=Package is here. Bring in Red Riding Hood.=]

Knowing that only Weiss would have sent that message, as it contained the hidden meaning of the cake having successfully arrived, Pyrrha returned to Ruby.

“Come with me.”

“Why?”

“We’re going to see Weiss.”

In a flurry of rose petals, Ruby was up and standing by the door. She was then led out the door, around the campus, and to the doors of the ballroom.

“Now, before we go in, I want you to not be mad if she doesn’t want to talk, alright?”

Ruby nodded and Pyrrha opened the door. Everybody she knew was in the room, standing and smiling at her.

“Uh… What is going on?”

Weiss walked up to her.

“Ruby, I know I’ve been distant this past week.”

“No kidding.”

“But I was busy planning this. I wanted to surprise you for your birthday. If you don’t like…”

Weiss was cut off when her fiancé jumped forward and kissed her.

“Weiss, I love it. Well, not as much as I love you, but that is for another time and…”

She caught herself starting to ramble.

“Thank you. It means a lot to me.”

“You’re welcome. Now, come on. It’s your party.”

Ruby then fully entered the room and they proceeded to enjoy themselves. Weiss had correctly guessed that jumping out and saying surprise would have startled the younger woman, so she had instructed them to not do it.

As Ren had been put in charge of cooking, Ruby and Nora ended up in a pancake eating contest. 16 plates in, and neither one was showing signs of stopping. Until, that is, they ran out of syrup. At which point Ruby won by default, as Nora refused to down a single bite without it.

The party lasted late into the night, with even the staff showing up. Ozpin, of course had a message for them from Qrow, who was away on a mission to dig out their father, who had managed to get snowed in on a glacier. As the hours passed, Blake and Sun went to Team RWBY’s dorm, as they wanted to be nowhere near the “Screaming Tsunami” that was Yang and Neptune in bed.

Ruby would not forget this night for a long time. As the last of their friends left, Ruby and Weiss were left alone. They decided to exit the room after some minor cleanup (Jaune and Ren had done most of it earlier) and go to bed.

“Happy birthday, Ruby.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will say it here now: I have another part ready to go starting next week. This has now taken its place as my longest fanfiction, and there are more chapters coming. So please, enjoy them.


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